The Guardian Angel without Wings
by a19dadsgirl
Summary: Danny's life becomes complicated when he takes in an abused child.


**Hawaii Five-0:**

**The Guardian Angel without Wings**

**Chapter 1**

It all began one day.

It just started out as just a normal quiet Sunday afternoon. The sun was shining bright warming the small island of _Oahu_, when suddenly the silence was broken; a dark blue car came screeching around a street corner being chased by two police cars, their sirens wailing as they came closer to the car.

The car came to a sudden stop and a dark young man jumped out and ran inside a small house and locked the doors behind him.

The police officers stopped their cars, jumped out, took cover, and drew out their weapons.

"Marshelle, you can't escape, give yourself up." Benny, one of the police officers, called out in a bullhorn.

All of the officers waited trying to figure out what the young man might do next. Suddenly there was a crash as a window was broken, and a rifle barrel poked out of the window and started shooting. The officers started firing back when it suddenly went silent; Benny was shaking with worry when he heard another noise coming closer.

Two black cars with sirens blaring had come racing around the corner and came to a screeching halt.

Steve McGarrett, head of the Hawaiian state police: _Hawaii Five-0_, jumped out of one car, out of the other car he was followed by Dan Williams his second in command whom Steve often calls by his nickname "Danno" and others call "Danny".

Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua, two more _Five-0_ officers followed after him and took cover with the others behind the cars.

"Hey Steve," Benny said quietly.

"Hey Benny, what do you got?"

"It's Marty Marshelle."

Danny looked over at Benny surprised. "Marty Marshelle, isn't he the one that's behind all those robberies all over the island?"

"That's right Danny, except this time he got caught."

"How Benny, how was he caught?" Steve asked as he glanced at the house's layout.

"He was seen shoplifting a few miles away from here, and all he had at the time was a handgun, when we chased him here he switched his handgun for a rifle, but it's what he stole that's got us baffled."

Steve looked at him as he covered his eyes to keep the sun out. "What do you mean, Benny?"  
"I mean that this time it wasn't jewels or money, it was groceries."

"Groceries?" Steve question, his voice sounded surprised but it wasn't really a new thing for him to hear, every once in a while someone will always do something that is way out of their character.

"Yeah Steve, some fruit, and canned goods,"

"No money, not even an old lady's purse?"

"Right Steve,"

"Well we're not just going to sit here and do nothing. Danno I want you and Chin to go to the back door and wait there, and Kono I want you to grab the bullhorn and wait till I give you the signal."

"What are you going to do Steve?" Danny spoke up.

"I'm going to go for the front door, now when I get there, Kono I want you to try to get him out, and if we're lucky he'll shoot. Danno, if he shoots that'll be your cue, I want you and Chin to bust in that back door like there's no tomorrow, hopefully that'll draw his fire, and then I'll go in through the front. Got it?"  
All the men nodded their heads then split to take their positions.

Danny and Chin ran to the back door and then waved at Kono to let him know that they were ready.

"Danny and Chin are ready Steve."

"Thanks Kono." Steve whispered, then he raced to the front of the house and stood between the door and the window. He quickly glanced back and signaled to Kono to start calling.

"Marshelle, this is _Five-0_, your surrounded give it up!" Kono yelled. Suddenly there was another shot and another window was shattered.

Danny kicked in the back door then he and Chin raced in with their guns pointed at Marshelle.

"Freeze, Drop it!" Danny yelled.

The young man turned his gun towards them and fired but they both ducked as the bullets hit the wall behind them, before Marshelle could shoot again Steve busted in the other door and grabbed him.

Chin jumped up, put the handcuffs on him and walked him out the front to the cars as Kono and a couple of officers came in to help.

"Kono, I want you and Benny to tear this place apart. And get Che out here, I want it dusted from top to bottom."

"Right Steve," Kono said, and he and Benny began searching the place.

* * *

Danny was looking around in the back where he and Chin had come in and he noticed that there were two rooms both with their doors shut.

He was about to leave when he heard a quiet thump, he quickly held up his gun and carefully opened the first bedroom door. All he saw inside was just a mattress that looked like someone had just slept in it recently, but he didn't see anyone.

Suddenly he heard the thump again but from the other room. He quickly walked over and opened the other door. Again all he saw was a mattress, but as he walked in all he saw a small pile of clothes lying on the floor and he noticed that one piece was a little girls dress; it was torn and it had blood on it. As he looked around he spotted a closet, he started walking towards it when he heard the thump again.

He held his gun at the ready, grabbed the doorknob, swung the door open and pointed his gun in. When he looked down he saw a little blonde girl tied up,

beaten and crying, her little dress was all bloody.

"My g…." Danny whispered he couldn't believe his eyes; he quickly put his gun away, knelt down and started untying the scared girl.

After he got her untied she quickly tucked herself back into a dark corner of the closet.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help." Danny spoke softly holding out his hands.

"Is….is my Daddy coming back?" The girl whispered her voice sounding like she hadn't had anything to drink in a long time.

Danny wasn't sure who her Dad was, but whoever he was she didn't want him to come back. "No….no your Daddy's not coming back."

The little girl slowly reached out and grabbed one of Danny's hands, as he helped her out of the closet she jumped up and hugged him and started crying.

Danny carefully picked her up and held her close. "It's alright now, no one's going to hurt you." He carefully stood up and walked out of the room.

* * *

Steve was looking through some papers when he noticed that Danny wasn't around. "Danno, Danno where are you?" He called out.

"_Here I am Steve." _Danny called back as he walked towards the front room.

Steve looked up and saw Danny carrying the small girl. "What's going on Danno?"

"I found her in a closet, tied up." He answered.

Steve pulled back some of the girls hair to look at her face, she made a small grunt and turned away from him. "You better have Doc take a look at her."

Danny nodded his head, then took the girl outside, put her in his car, wrapped her in his jacket to keep her warm, then got into the car and drove off down the road towards the hospital.

Inside the house Steve was becoming more and more confused.

"Steve, here's some of the stuff he stole." Kono called out.

"Good Kono good, now all we need is to find the reason why he needed those stolen goods."

"_I think that I can answer that Steve." _A voice called from the back; Che Fong, _Five-0_'s forensic specialist walked out of one of the back rooms holding a brown bag.

"What is it Che?"

"Narcotics, Marshelle or someone has been using those stolen goods to buy drugs."

"What do you mean 'Marshelle or someone'? You don't expect me to believe that child took drugs?"

"No Steve, but if you go back there you'll find that someone else has been living here."

"Okay, okay Che, see what else you can find and tell Kono that I've gone to the hospital, and tell him that I want a full report when I get back to the office."

"Right Steve,"

Steve quickly walked out, got into the other car and drove off.

**Chapter 2**

Danny was waiting outside the exam room when he saw Steve walking down the corridor. "Steve, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Did you find out anything about her?"

"Not much, we've guessed her to be about six years old, and I think Marty Marshelle is her Dad."

"Her Dad, I didn't even know Marshelle had a girlfriend." Steve said trying to keep spirits up.

And it worked, Danny quietly chuckled. "Neither did I Steve, but then I thought of something; Marshelle didn't start doing crimes until about four years ago."  
"Yeah, what are you getting at Danno?"  
"Well since the girl is about six, couldn't he have been married six years ago and the wife split not long after they had the girl?"

Steve thought about that for a second. "Okay Danno, we'll go along with your theory for now until we can dig up something, but if Marshelle was married then just what _did_ happen to the Mrs. Marshelle?"

Just then the door opened and Dr. Bergman walked out. "Steve, Danny."

Danny just nodded his head.

"Well Doc?" Steve said more calmly.

"Well Steve, It's a good thing that Danny found her when he did. She looks as if she hasn't eaten for over a day, it's a wonder she's not sick. And from what I can tell, she's been beaten most of her life, she has scars almost as old as her, and she's very sensitive to light, I guess it's from being locked in the closet so long. Another thing Steve, I don't think Danny told you this, but she's scared of almost everyone around her, except for Danny, we had to give her a sedative to calm her down. When he brought her in she wouldn't let go of him."

"Now why is that Doc?" Steve said glancing at Danny.

"I think it's because Marshelle or someone else has abused her greatly, so she's afraid that someone else might hurt her. Now the reason why she doesn't feel that way towards Danny is because he's the first person in her life that ever showed kindness towards her. Someone beat her, tied her up and locked her in a dark closet. Danny, spoke kindness to her, untied her, hugged her and brought her out of that darkness."

Steve was about to say something when Nurse Jillian Summers walked out. "Doctor, she's awake, and she's asking for Det. Williams."

Danny looked up confused. "How does she know my name? I never told her."

"She didn't have to know your name, when she woke up she asked for 'Blue Eyes', and I thought it might be you because you're the only 'Blue Eyes' around." The nurse giggled.

Doc Bergman and Steve smiled and quietly chuckled.

"Is it okay if I go talk to her Doc?" Danny asked a little embarrassed.

"Sure Danny, go right on in, oh see if you can get her to take this." He handed Danny a small pill. "It's a sedative, it'll help her get her strength back."  
"Sure Doc." Danny took the pill in his hand, took a deep breath and walked into the room.

* * *

When the little girl saw Danny walk in the room she quickly sat up.

"Hello." Danny said smiling.

"Hi." The girl whispered.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but where did you go? I woke up and you were gone."  
"I'm sorry; I had to talk to someone outside."

The little girl smiled. "Sir, what's your name?"

Danny quietly laughed. "I guess we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Danny Williams, what's your name?"

"I'm Susie Mashelle."

Danny's smile became a worried frown. "Is Marty your Dad?"

Susie looked down. "Yes, he's my Daddy."

Danny noticed that she was rubbing her arm like someone just hit her. He looked into hand and saw the small pill that he was suppose to give her. He walked over to a counter where a glass of water was sitting; dropped the pill into the water and took it to Susie.

"Here Susie, the doctor needs you to drink this."  
"Why?" Susie asked as she took the glass from his hands.

"Because the doctors think that you probably haven't had anything to eat or drink since yesterday. Please?"

Susie nodded her head and drank the water till it was all gone. Danny took the glass and placed it back on the counter.

"Danny, I'm so sleepy."

Danny turned around to see Susie yawn; he walked back to her and carefully laid her down on the bed. "It's okay, you need the sleep." He wasn't sure what to really say.

Susie took a hold of his hand and held it tight. "Danny, please don't leave me."

"I'm going to leave you."  
"Promise?"

Danny went silent for a Moment, he knew that from the first Moment Susie laid eyes on him, he was going to be the only one that she trusted, and that meant that he was going to be the only one to protect her. "I promise." He whispered, and she fell asleep.

Danny waited for a Moment then carefully let go of her hand and quietly walked out of the room.

**Chapter 3**

When he walked out Danny saw Steve and the doctor still talking. "How is she Danno?" Steve said interrupting their conversation.

"She's asleep, Doc what's going to happen to Susie when she's allowed to leave here?"

Doc Bergman had a big smile on his face. "Susie, is that her name?"

Danny nodded his head.

"Well I don't know, she doesn't have any other family that we know of, we might have to put her in _Foster Care_."  
Danny looked at him with a mixture of sadness and anger on his face. "But she doesn't trust anyone."  
"Well what do you suggest?"

Danny looked up at Steve then looked back at the doctor. "I'll take care of her."

Doc Bergman glanced at Steve. "Danny, taking care of a child isn't easy."  
"But if you put her in a home that she doesn't feel comfortable in, you might as well take her life away." Danny said as he became furious with the doctor.

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Take it easy Danno, isn't there someone that maybe could help you with Susie?"

Danny looked down for a Moment frustrated, then suddenly looked up with a sparkle in his eye. "Maggy and Shawn McGuire, Maggy's great with kids."  
The doctor smiled big. "It might work, if you can get Susie to trust your friends."

Danny looked at Steve. "Steve you know we can't just dump her off in a home."

Steve took his hand off of Danny's shoulder and chuckled. "Alright Danno, we'll try to solve this one without you."  
"Now wait a minute Steve, I didn't say I was out. If I can get Susie to trust Maggy I'm still in, plus if she tells me anything you'll need me."  
"Okay Danno, we better get back to the office."

Danny smiled and nodded his head.

"Thanks a lot Doc." Steve said smiling.

"Your welcome Steve, oh Danny if anything should happen you want me to call you?"

"Sure Doc." Danny said quietly.

As Steve and Danny started to leave, Steve waved his hand back at Doc. "_Mahalo_ Doc." He said and they left the hospital.

* * *

When Steve walked into his office followed by Danny, Chin, Kono, and Che were waiting for them.  
"Gentlemen," Steve said stiffly.

"How's the girl Danny?" Kono asked walking over to Danny's side.

"She'll be fine now. Doc said that she looks like she's been beaten over half of her life."

"And it appears that she's spent most of her time in that closet." Che said. Everyone looked at him with surprised looks on their faces.

"What have you got Che?" Steve asked finally.

"Well I looked through the closet where Danny found the girl; I found shreds of cloth that was stained with blood. Plus I found shriveled up crumbs that are a result of food. It looked to be a least two weeks old, maybe more."

Steve looked over at Danny and noticed that he looked like he was ready to cry from Che's news. "What would make a man want to beat his own daughter."  
"Drugs, Steve." Chin spoke up holding a folder in his hand. "Those uh drugs that Che found, he was taking them."

"How do you know?" Steve said turning his attention to Chin,

"When I was taking him in, he went crazy. I had Noah take a blood sample and it showed drugs in his system, and he was so high on that stuff I couldn't believe that he was still conscious."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Steve called.

Jenny Sherman, _Five-0_'s secretary walked in. "Danny, there's a Mrs. Maggy McGuire on the phone for you."

Danny turned around. "Thanks Jenny." Then he looked back at Steve then left the room.

After he closed the door Kono looked up at Steve. "Danny's sure taking this one hard huh Boss?"

"Yeah Kono, he is." Steve looked down at his desk. "And if anything happens to Susie I don't know what will happen to him."

Che looked at Steve with a small smile on his face. "Is that girl's name?"

Steve nodded his head. "Yeah Susie, Susie Marshelle, Marty's six year old, starved, beaten, tired, and scared daughter. Kono, I want you and Chin to start checking all the islands, even the mainland but I want you to find the Mrs. Marshelle."

"How do we go about finding her Boss?" Chin spoke softly.

"Look for any young women that either, looked pregnant or had a baby about six years ago, then see if you can tie her in with Marshelle. Get on it right away."

Chin nodded his head then he and Kono left Steve's office in a hurry.

Danny walked back in not long after. "Sorry about that Steve."

Steve looked up. "It's alright Danno, I just sent Chin and Kono to search for Susie's Mother."

"You've got about a one-in-million-shot at that Steve."

"That's right, and I'm going to take that one shot if it's the last shot I've got."

Steve could tell that something was bothering Danny. "Come on Danno."

Danny looked up confused. "Where are we going Steve?"

"To see an Angel."

He and Danny walked out of the palace and got into Steve's car and started driving.

**Chapter 4**

In the car Steve kept on glancing at Danny worried about him. "What's bothering you Danno?"

"Marshelle," Danny said glancing at Steve.

"Marshelle, why?" Steve's tone sounded a little confused.

"I just don't understand how a man could ruin a little girl's chance of having a normal life."

Steve took a deep breath wanting to say something else but he decided to keep quiet. But he kept wondering why Marshelle allowed himself to get caught, was Susie a part of a bigger plan?

As they continued driving, Danny kept on wondering where they were going when they suddenly pulled into a drive and a young lady was waiting outside. Steve stopped the car and he and Danny both got out.

"Hey Steve." The young lady said smiling, she was tall, and her blue eyes were almost hidden by her blondish/brown hair that flowed past her shoulders.

"Hey Angel, how's it going for you?"

"Oh can't complain. Hey what's going on, you need some help?"

"Yeah Angel, you could say that."  
Angel looked over at Danny and saw his worried face. "Hey Danny, what's wrong? You look like you just lost your best friend."

Danny put a small smile on his face. "I don't see how, your standing in front of me."

Angel laughed and Steve and Danny chuckled.

"Now seriously guys, what's the beef, why are you in my driveway?"

"Well Angel I'll tell you, have you ever heard of a guy by the name of Marshelle?" Steve said trying to be serious

Angel's smile turned into worry. "You mean 'Marty Marshelle'?"

"That's the one, you've heard of him?"

"Well yeah, my sister Cassie was robbed by him, and I dated him a few years ago." She sounded like she was spit as she talked.

"How many years ago was that Angel?"

"Oh about seven, then he met this other chick over on the _Big Island_."

"Do you remember her name?"

"Sorry Steve, he never told me, he just came by one day and dumped me. I'm sorry that I haven't been of more help."

"You've been great help Angel, _Mahalo._"

Steve and Danny got back into the car and headed back to the Palace.

* * *

As they walked into the main office Jenny stood to greet them. "Danny, a young lady came in and dropped off a package. She said to tell you that she would take the rest to your place."

Danny nodded his head, walked over to his desk and picked up the phone to make a call.

Jenny looked at Steve with a confused look on her face. "Is everything alright Steve? I've never seen Danny so drawn."

"I don't know Jenny." Steve said just as Chin walked in.

"Steve, we've narrowed down our search for Susie's Mother."

"How narrow?" Steve asked as they walked in his office.

"We've gotten down to at least two dozen women."

"Do any of them live on the _Big Island_?"

"About a dozen of them, it'll take us some to find them."

"Keep searching Chin, we've got to find her, we've just _got_ to find her."

Chin nodded his head then turned and left Steve just as Danny walked in.

"What'd Chin have to say?"

"They've narrowed the search down to about twelve women, but it'll still take them some time to find her."  
Danny just nodded.

"Danno, what's bothering you? And don't say 'nothing' because I know it isn't just 'nothing'." Steve said as he sat down at his desk.

Danny chuckled as he also sat down. "I'm trying to figure out who else was staying with Marshelle."

"Do you have any ideas of who it might be?"

"Yeah, do you remember a fellow by the name of Johnny Maverick?"

"Johnny Maverick? Johnny Maverick? Yeah, one your stoolies isn't he?"

"Right, I just did some checking on him. It turns out that while he's been working for us, he's been doing work for someone else."

"Let me guess, Marty Marshelle, right?" Steve didn't sound too surprised.

"Right, I did some checking while I was at the hospital, and all those times that we couldn't even lay a finger on Marshelle, was because of Johnny. He'd let Marty know when we were coming."

"But how Danno, how could he know when we were coming?"

"He probably got his hands on an old police radio set." After Danny told his news to Steve everything went quiet.

Steve stood up and walked over to his balcony window snapping his fingers and did some thinking for what seemed like the longest time. "Have you heard anything from Maverick since we caught Marshelle?" he asked as he stopped snapping.

"No, and that's what been bugging me. If he _did_ stay with Marshelle he must have known about Susie, and if he finds Susie gone her life is in danger."

Steve turned towards Danny snapping his fingers once again. "Do you know where we could find Johnny Maverick, Danno?"

"One of over a dozen places." But before Danny could start naming the places there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Steve called.

The door slowly opened and Jenny walked in. "Danny, Dr. Bergman just called, he said when your ready she's ready."

"Thanks Jenny." He stood up, looked at Steve then quickly left the office. Steve looked at Jenny standing in the doorway.

"Is everything okay Steve? I haven't seen Danny like this since…"

"I know Jenny, I know." Steve interrupted.

**Chapter 5**

Danny walked into Susie's hospital room and saw her looking out the window. "Hey Susie," he said.

"Hey Danny," she said as she sat up in her bed. "Do I get to go home now?"

Danny looked at her with a sad smile on his face. "Not right now, you're going to stay with me for a few days."

"Oh, okay." Susie said sorrowful like.

Danny saw the sadness starting to grow in Susie's eyes. "Hey I brought you something."

Susie's eyes began to brighten up. "What is it?"

Danny handed her a package out from behind his back.

"What is it Danny?" She repeated.

"It's a little dress for you. Why don't you put it on, I'll wait outside." Danny left the room just as Susie opened the box.

Outside of Susie's room Danny waited for her to get dressed, he was pacing when Dr. Bergman came walking up to him.

"Hey Danny," Doc said stopping in front of him watching him pace.

"Hey Doc," Danny said barley even looking at him.

"You okay Danny?" Doc said stopping Danny in his tracks.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's just that I haven't seen you this nervous since that time Steve got shot and it was your first time in charge of _Five-0_."

Danny started to laugh. "Yeah, I guess your right. But you can't blame me for being nervous."

"Your right, I can't." Bergman chuckled. "But this time you can't be nervous or else Susie might think that you don't really want to take care of her."

Danny was about to say something when the door started to open. As he turned around he saw Susie walk out of her room wearing a little white dress with little blue flowers and white shoes with matching socks.

"I'm ready Danny." She quietly said.

"You look beautiful Susie." The doctor said smiling, but she didn't say anything.

"Thanks Doc." Danny said shaking his hand.

"Anytime Danny,"

Danny took a hold of Susie's hand and they walked down the hallway and left the hospital.

* * *

As they drove towards his home, Danny thought that this would be a good time to talk Susie. "Susie?" he said, trying not to sound tough.

"Yes Danny?" she said looking up at him.

"Susie, I just wanted you to know that while you're staying with me if you need or want anything you can tell me, okay? You don't have to just wish it."

"Okay Danny."

As they continued driving Danny was trying to think of stuff that they could do while they were together.

Suddenly as they came to a stop a small group of people riding horses crossed the street.

Susie's eyes grew in amazement. "Danny, what are those?" she asked pointing at the group.

"Those? Those are called horses. People ride them all over the island." Danny could tell that Susie was just in awe as the group took the horses across the street and down to the beach. "Do you want to go riding sometime, Susie?"

She looked up at him as they continued driving. "Can we?"

"Sure, I know the perfect place. We'll go in a couple of days, ok?"

"Okay."

Danny chuckled as they drove up to the apartment building where he lived. "Here we are." He said as he pulled the car into his car port.

"You live here?" Susie said as she looked at the size the building.

"Not exactly," Danny chuckled. "I live in this building yes, but my place is much smaller."  
Susie looked at him in confusion.

"Come on I'll show you." Danny took Susie's hand and walked her in the building.

When they walked into his apartment Susie's eyes grew with excitement. "It's pretty." She said as she went and sat down in a chair.

At first Danny thought it was funny the way Susie acted, but then he had remembered how empty her house was. "Susie, are you hungry?"

"Yes Danny." She said. She looked around when she suddenly noticed something colorful shining through the window. "Danny what's that?"

Danny looked up from putting something in the oven. "That's the sun setting. Come on." He quickly walked her over to the window door and took her out onto the balcony. "Now see, you can watch the sun set here while I make dinner."

"Okay Danny." Susie turned to watch the sun set across the ocean while Danny walked back in to make dinner.

**Chapter 6**

Steve was sitting in his office when Kono walked in.

"Hey Steve, we've narrowed the search for Mrs. Marshelle down to five."

"Well five is still four to many."  
"Sorry Steve, but we're having a hard time tracking them."

"Well don't stop alright, we've got to find her before Danno becomes a permanent Father."

Kono turned and quickly left as Chin and Che walked in. "Steve, we were able to figure out what kind of drugs Marshelle was using." Chin said holding a folder in his hand.

"And, what did you find?" Steve said some-what annoyed.

"It's a mixture Steve, a combination of two different narcotics. One is 'coke' and the other was a light dab of 'speed'." Che said trying not to make Steve anymore steamed up than he already was. "The coke is what made him so clumsy like, and the speed is what triggered his emotions towards his daughter."

Steve stood up and looked out his balcony window. "So, Marshelle stole some goods, and used the money to buy more goods. But who did the making and selling of the drugs? Marshelle nor Maverick was ever that clever."

Chin glanced at Che confused. "Who's this 'Maverick' Boss?"

Steve turned around to look at him. "Johnny Maverick, a street stoolie. According to Danno he was the leak to Marshelle about when we were coming after him."

"But how could that be Boss?"

"I don't know Chin, Danno thinks he might have gotten his hands on a police radio set. What's bothering me is why did Marshelle get caught this time?"

"I don't know Boss; do you want me to find this Maverick?"

"No, no Chin, it's late, go home. We'll try to get Danno on this one tomorrow."

"Alright, night Boss," Chin said as he and Che walked towards the door.

"Night Chin, night Che,"

"Goodnight Steve," Che said finally and they left.

* * *

As the sun disappeared over the horizon Danny and Susie began to eat dinner. "This is really good, Danny." Susie said as she ate her food.

"I'm glad you like it, I'm not much a cook."

Danny and Susie both quietly giggled, and Danny thought to himself that it must have been a long time since Susie last laughed, he could tell that in the short time that they've known each other she had changed a lot. From the first Moment he laid eyes on her, beaten, and left alone in the dark he thought that she might not ever speak, smile, laugh or trust anyone in her life, but he was glad to see that he was wrong. As they finished their dinner someone knocked on the door.

Susie suddenly went from feeling happy to scared. "Who's that Danny?" she asked as he cleared the table.

"Oh, it's uh probably my friends Maggy and Shawn McGuire, I asked them to come over and meet you." As Danny walked over to the door Susie ran over and grabbed his hand and held on as he opened the door.

"Hey Danny." Said a young lady in a bubbly voice,

"Hi Maggy, hi Shawn come on in."

Susie watched as the young couple walked into the apartment's living room. The young lady was a little shorter than Danny; she had long red hair and bight green eyes. The young man was just a little bit taller than Danny; he had dark skin, black hair and brown eyes. Susie kept noticing that the young lady was looking at her.

"Is this the girl you told us about Danny?" the young man asked as they all sat down. The young couple sat on the couch, Danny sat in the chair and Susie sat on his lap.

"Yes, this is Susie. Susie, this is Shawn and his wife Maggy, their good friends of mine."

But Susie didn't say a word. Everyone sat quietly for a minute, Shawn was about to say something when Susie jumped off of Danny's lap and walked out onto the balcony.

"Is everything alright Dan?" Shawn finally asked.

"Everything was fine; I guess maybe she's nervous about you being here. Before you got here she was so happy I thought she was going to bust, I guess meeting you two made her a little scared."

"Why do you think that is Danny?" Maggy asked glancing at Susie outside.

"The doctors don't really know. They think that after being beaten most of her life she won't trust anyone, but since I was the one that found her, they think that I'll be the only one she'll ever trust."

Maggy just nodded her head then got up and walked out onto the balcony.

"Hey Shawn, want something to drink?" Danny asked as he headed for the kitchen.

"Sure Danny." Shawn said as he followed him so the girls could talk alone.

When Maggy walked outside she saw Susie staring out where the sun had set. "Hey Susie." She said softly.

"Hello." Susie said without turning around.

"It sure is pretty out, but if you're looking for the sun it'll rise tomorrow behind you." Susie still didn't turn around. "You know Susie, you and I are very much alike." Maggy waited, wondering what Susie might do.

"What do you mean?" Susie asked as she finally turned around to see Maggy looking at her.

"I mean that when I was a little girl, I didn't have a Mom either, and my Dad didn't really want me, so when I was about your age I got sent to live with my uncle here in _Hawaii_."

Susie looked at her confused. "You're not from here?" she asked.

"Nope, I'm from _Joliet Illinois_, but since my uncle lived in _Honolulu_, I had to move here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but you see my uncle wasn't always around to take care of me. He had to work a lot on another islands so I had to stay with a friend of his a lot."

"Really?" Susie said as they sat down on the patio chairs.

"Really, but you want to know something else? The person that watched me for my uncle, took care of me but never loved me, not like the love that Danny has given you. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"A little, are you trying to say that even though Danny will be taking care of me, you and Shawn will be watching me while he works?"

"That's right, but I wanted to make sure that you understood that even though we're going to watch, Danny will still take time to love and care for you. So do you think that you can trust Shawn and me as much as you trust Danny?"

Susie just sat quiet for a moment.

"Susie?"

"Okay Maggy, I'll try." Susie finally said.

Maggy's eye's filled with happiness. "Okay, come on let's go tell the guys." Maggy jumped up and started going inside when she suddenly felt something grab her hand. She looked down to see Susie holding her hand looking up at her with a big smile.

As they walked back into the living room Danny looked up from talking to Shawn. "Well there you are we thought that you were going to sleep outside."

Everyone started to laugh, even Susie.

"Susie, it's getting late, why don't you go and get ready for bed."

"Okay Danny."

"There are clothes in the bathroom for you." He said as he and Shawn stood up, Susie nodded her head then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Maggy, thank you," Danny said turning to her.

"For what?" she said smiling.

"Well, for buying the clothes, and for whatever you did out there."  
"It's no big deal; it's been a while since I've been able to tell my story." Everyone suddenly went quiet.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright honey, it has been a long time, and we all know that telling your story helps you overcome your past." Shawn said calmly. "Hey we better get going, it's late."

"Oh your right honey, I guess that I lost track of time." Maggy said trying to hold back her tears.

"It's okay, I think Susie enjoyed it. Thank you both for coming."

"Your welcome Danny, we'll see you tomorrow." Shawn said as they left.

After they were gone Danny started thinking about what to do with Susie the next day. While he was thinking Susie walked out of the bathroom dressed in a little nightgown.

"I'm ready for bed Danny."

Danny turned to look at her. "Huh? Oh okay, umm you'll sleep here okay?" He picked up Susie and put her on the couch.

"Okay Danny." She said as she laid down on a soft cushion and pillow,

Danny started covering her with a blanket when he noticed that she had a weird look on her face. "What's wrong Susie?"

"Danny, what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well I'm going to take you to work with me; I have something I want you to look at for me. Then I asked Maggy and Shawn to take you out for the day, and then you and I will get together and have dinner later, okay?"

"But can't I stay with you?"

Danny had a sad smile on his face. "We'll see, alright? Now get some sleep."

Susie rolled over and fell asleep; Danny waited for a second then went into his room and shut the door.

**Chapter 7**

The next morning Susie woke up to a warm and wonderful smell, something she had never smelled before. "What's that?" she asked as she sat up.

"_Breakfast, you want some." _Danny called from the kitchen.

Susie turned to look at him. "Sure." She said smiling. As she pushed the covers off, she looked over and saw a couple of pictures on the lamp table. One was a picture of a young lady with a sweet smile. The other was a picture of Danny standing at the bottom of a staircase of a huge building with three other men. One was taller than him and had dark hair and was slender; the other two were both about the same height as Danny, but a lot heavier. "Danny?"

"Yeah Susie?" he answered back as he walked over to see her looking at the pictures.

"Danny, who are they?" she asked pointing at the pictures.

"They're my friends,"

"Who's she?" she asked pointing at the lady's picture.

"Her name was Jane."

Susie looked up at him seeing tears beginning to fill his eyes. "Where is she?"

"She was killed." He whispered his voice started to break with sadness.  
Susie quickly turned her attention to the other picture. "Who's standing here with you, Danny?"

Danny quickly wiped his tears away. "Those are the men I work with. The tall one is Steve, and the other two are Chin and Kono."

"Are you good friends?" Susie asked as they walked into the kitchen and sat down to eat.

"Yes we are. The uh… Hawaiian's have a say that we kind of live by; '_Bruddah Makemake Ka mea E Loa'o ana No'u 'Oe ia'u Laua Kuma Pilikia_'."

Susie giggled. "What does that mean?"

Danny chuckled. "It's the Hawaiian way of saying '_Brother's will do anything for when their in trouble'_."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that when one is in trouble the others won't stop until they find who really caused the trouble."

Susie kept trying to figure out what Danny meant as they ate breakfast.

After they finished Danny took the dishes to the sink and began rinsing them off. "Susie why don't you go get dressed, we'll need to leave after I make a phone call."

"Alright Danny." She whispered with a smile, and then she grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom to change just as Danny picked up the phone to make the phone call.

"Hey Jenny, its Danny," He said. "I need you to do me a favor."

When Susie came out of the bathroom she saw Danny sitting on the couch waiting for her.

"You ready to go?"

"Yep, I'm ready."

As they left the apartment, got in the car and pulled out of the drive heading to Danny's job Susie had a question stirring in her mind.

"Danny?" she said finally.

"Yes Susie?" he answered glancing at her.

"What did you mean when you said that when you or your friends are in trouble the rest of you wouldn't stop until you helped him?"

"Well, a few years ago, Steve, my boss was hurt and it was up to Chin, Kono, and I to find who hurt him."  
"Did you find him?"

"Yes we did, each one of us at some point in our lives needed our friends to help us."  
Susie thought for a second, she was wondering _'what kind of trouble could Danny get into? He seems like the kind of person that gets you out of trouble.'_

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep, like my friend Chin, somebody told us a lie saying that he was giving money to Chin for protection from us. Steve had to take him off the case until we found the man that told the lie."

"Did you?"

"Yes we did, it turned out to be a guy that paid people to tell us that it was Chin."

"What about your friend Kono, did he ever get into trouble?"

Danny smiled as he kept on driving, never in his life had he heard so many questions. "Yes, Kono has gotten into trouble too. There was this one time when we were asked to find a little boy that went missing, Kono almost found him but he was suddenly taken by the same people that took the kid. Steve had Chin and I running in circles looking for him."

"Did you ever find him?"

"Yeah we found him a few days later, after he went missing along with the boy." Danny suddenly went quiet like he didn't want to answer anymore questions.

"Danny?" Susie said worried about him. "Did you ever get into any trouble?"

But he didn't answer. Susie was about to say something else, but she thought it might be better if she just kept quiet. She could see pain in Danny's eyes, and tears starting to swell up, but she didn't say another word.

Danny drove until he pulled in front of the _Iolani Palace._

Susie got out of the car with Danny and looked up at the huge building.

"Is this where you work?" Susie said looking at the building.

Danny chuckled. "Yeah, this is where I work. Come on."

Danny held Susie's hand as they walked up the great staircase into the building.

* * *

When they walked into the main office Susie's eyes grew even bigger. "Wow!" she whispered.

Danny chuckled then noticed Jenny sitting at her desk. "Jenny." He said as they walked closer to her.

"Good morning Danny, who's your friend?" she said smiling at Susie.

"This is Susie, Susie Marshelle. Susie this is Jenny Sherman."

But Susie didn't say anything; suddenly she heard something behind her.

"Hey Danny." A voice called out.

When Susie turned around she saw two men approach them; she recognized them as two of the men from the picture in Danny's apartment.

Danny looked behind him and saw the men standing there. "Morning." He said as he turned around.

Susie looked at them, she noticed that the men looked alike but different; they were both a little heavy but one had lighter skin and smaller eyes than the other.

"Hey Danny, is this your new sweetheart?" Kono said.

Danny looked down at Susie. "I guess so. Susie Marshelle this is Chin Ho Kelly." He said pointing to the lighter skinned one. "And this is Kono Kalakaua." He said pointing to the darker one.

Susie just held Danny's hand scared.

"She's not the talking type is she Bruddah?" Kono said smiling.

Susie suddenly remembered that word; _Bruddah. _"You must be Danny's _'big' Bruddah._" She said.

Kono looked at Danny and chuckled. Chin, Danny and Jenny busted out laughing.

Susie thought to herself _"I'm really glad that I can make someone smile for once."_

"Oh Danny," Jenny said silencing the laughter. "I put those books you asked for on your desk."

"Thanks Jenny."

"Hey Bruddah, are you coming to the meeting?" Chin asked still smiling.

"Yeah, tell Steve I'll be there in a minute, will ya?"

"Sure Danny." Chin and Kono walked into Steve's office still chuckling.

Danny walked Susie over to his desk, and sat her in his chair.

"What do you want me to do Danny?" she asked.

"I want you to look at some pictures for me of some people."

"But why Danny?"

"Steve just thought that maybe someone else was staying in your house, and that maybe you saw him."

Susie looked at him scared. "But I never saw anyone else, just Daddy; you've got to believe me."

"I do believe you Susie, but could you just look at them for me, please?"

Susie hesitated for a second. "Okay." She whispered.

As Susie opened the book to look at the pictures Danny walked over to Jenny's desk. "Jenny?" he whispered.

"Yes Danny?"

"Could you keep an eye on her and let me know if she finds anything?"

"Sure Danny."

Danny smiled then walked into Steve's office.

* * *

As he walked in he saw Steve looking out his window. "Steve?"

"Yes Danno?" Steve said as he turned to look at him.

"Susie's looking at the pictures, but I don't know how much help she's going to be."

"Why is that Danno?"

Danny shrugged his shoulder, "She claims that she never saw anyone else besides her Dad."

"Well, Che and Doc both believe that if she looks at something familiar that might help her remember if there was another man. Did she tell you anything last night or this morning?"

"No, if she is hiding something, she's good at it, she didn't even tell Maggy anything."

Steve looked a little annoyed. "Alright, where are we on the location of the Mrs. Marshelle?"

"We're still trying to track down the final three, but their all hard to find." Kono said not happy with his news.

"Alright, don't give up, keep digging. Chin what about the narcotics?"

"So far we've come down to three or four names, but it's hard to put a connection between them and Marshelle or Maverick." Chin also wasn't too pleased with his news. "Sorry Boss."

"Don't be Chin, you and Kono have been working hard, and we don't have much to go on unless we can get Susie to tell more."

"I'm trying Steve, but she's keeping secretes like a spy when he's captured." Danny said also getting frustrated. "I just hope…" he suddenly went silent.

"Hope what Danno?" Steve said calming himself down. "Hope that she'll tell us everything before Maverick gets to her?"

"Yeah I mean... Susie believes that I can protect her, but how much protection could I really get her?" Danny sat down so frustrated about this case.

"Hey Danny, protection works two ways; you can give it, but it takes the person your protecting to want it." Chin said trying to help with Danny's frustration, but Danny just sighed in anger.

"Hey, Chin's right Bruddah, maybe Susie doesn't really need the protection."

Danny looked up at Kono madder now than ever. "What are you saying? You think that she's a plot, someone trying to hit Marshelle so he uses his daughter as a shield to find the hit man?"

Steve could feel the tension growing in the office. "Take it easy Danno, nobody is saying that Susie is involved, but we do need to find out if she really does need the protection or not."

"I'm sorry Steve." Danny said calming down, and then he looked over at Kono. "Sorry Kono."

"No big."

Danny smiled, he was thankful for Kono's friendship, but he started wondering if what the guys were saying was true.

"Steve, don't you think that…" Suddenly Chin was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Steve called.

Jenny came practically running into the office. "Danny, you need to come out here."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"It's Susie; she turned a page in the book and started crying."

Danny quickly glanced at Steve then rushed out of the office…

**Chapter 8**

He walked over and knelt down beside Susie. "Susie, what's the matter." But she didn't answer; she just kept on staring at a picture in the book. Danny looked at the book; the picture he saw was of a young man, he had dark skin, like Kono's, but he was younger, thinner, and his eyes looked as though he didn't have life. "Susie, what is it, what's wrong?"

"It's him." She whispered. "He's the man that would come and tell my Daddy stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

Susie looked over at him. "He would tell my Daddy when it was safe to go and get the stuff to help buy 'The Package'. And when I was bad, if Daddy wasn't home, that man would punish me and he would put me in my room and leave me there."

Danny could see her hands trembling, and her eyes filled with tears. "Susie, listen to me." He said as he held her hands. "Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise. Susie what happened before I found you?"

At first she didn't know what to say, and then she looked at him, wiped some tears away, and took a deep breath. "Before you found me, Daddy left me alone for a long time, the house was getting dark and I was hungry. When I saw that he never came back I just went to get some milk to drink when Daddy and that man came home and saw me in the kitchen. Daddy was really mad, he hit my face, and I tried to say that I was sorry but he wouldn't listen and then that man said that it was his turn."

Danny's eyes filled with tears, he could feel Susie's hands trembling in his. "Susie, did this man hit you and tie you up in the closet?"

Susie nodded her head and quietly cried. Danny reached up and grabbed the phone and dialed a number. "Maggy? Danny. Yeah I need you to come and pick Susie up and take her out for the day. Yeah, no just until this evening, okay that'd be fine. Alright see you in a few minutes."

As Danny hung up the phone, Susie grabbed his hand even tighter. "No Danny, I want to stay with you, please don't send me away, please." Susie started crying.

Danny put his arms around her and hugged her close. "It's okay Susie, its okay. I promise that as soon as I'm finished here I'll be home to stay with you."

"Do you promise?"

Danny went silent, and he started to remember his last promise to her. "I promise Susie, you have my word." Danny stayed still as Susie hugged him for a few minutes.

After a little bit of silence Jenny walked over to Danny's desk carrying a box of tissues. "Here Danny." She whispered.

Danny turned around and took a couple of tissues. "Thanks Jenny."

"That's alright, there's a Mrs. McGuire out here waiting."

"Alright tell her I'll be right out."

Jenny smiled, then turned and left them alone.

Danny looked at Susie and wiped her tears away with a tissue. "Now Susie, I want you to promise me that you'll go with Maggy and that you'll be good."

"Okay Danny, I promise." Susie cleared up her tears then she took a tissue and wiped away Danny's tears. Danny smiled then took a hold of her hand and walked her out to Maggy.

Susie quickly looked up at him then walked over and left the office with Maggy. Danny watched as they left then he quickly grabbed the picture out of the book and walked back into Steve's office.

"Steve, Susie identified the second man." Danny said as he walked in.

"That's great Danno, who is it?"

"It's who we thought; Johnny Maverick. Susie said that he would tell Marshelle where to steal stuff to buy, what they called 'The Package'." Just then he went silent once again.

Chin looked at him worried. "What's wrong Bruddah?"

But he didn't answer.

"Danno, what is it?" Steve said walking over to his side.

"It's…. it's just that….Susie told me that the reason she would get tied up in the closet was because of Maverick."

Everyone looked at him shocked.

"But I thought it was Marshelle that did the beating?" Chin asked trying hard not to make Danny mad.

"We were wrong; Marshelle would just slap her then shove her in the closet. Two days ago, Maverick gave her the beating that caused her to be so afraid, all for just getting a glass of milk."

Danny looked like he was ready to throw something but Steve quickly walked over and put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Take it easy Danno."

Danny took a deep breath then walked over and sat down. "Sorry Steve."

"No need to apologize Danno, what matters now is that we find Maverick. Do you know where he might be?"

"Like I told you yesterday Steve, he could be hiding in one of a dozen places; he picks them all over the island. He would tell me where he'd be hiding just in case I needed him, but he's chosen so many I don't know where to start."

"Think Danno think, how about the last place you saw him?"

Danny thought for a second but everyone could tell that he was drawing a blank. "Sorry Steve, I just can't…wait!" Everyone looked up hoping that it was good news.

"What Danno, what is it?" Steve asked.

"Do you remember that old snack shack along _Waimea Bay?_"

"Yeah, the one the young couple owned before they moved to the _Big Island_. What about it?" Chin asked wondering what Danny was talking about.

"That was the place he hid when that drug man, Big Chicken started making trouble before I had that accident with the kid that stole for him."

Everyone suddenly went quiet as they all remembered the first time Danny ever killed anyone, even though it was an accident and even though Danny was able to stay out of prison it was something that they would all remember for the rest of their lives; especially Danny.

"Alright, that's a start." Steve said breaking the quietness. "Chin, you and Kono check out that shack."

"Right Steve," Chin said.

"Take it easy Bruddah." Kono quietly said to Danny then he and Chin left Steve's office hoping to find something that will be helpful in this case.

"Steve, I'm sorry." Danny spoke up. "I don't know what's come over me."

Steve walked over to the door window that led out to balcony. "What's coming over you Danno is a psycho that even has me bugged." Then he turned to look at Danny. "But we can't let our personal feelings get in the way of our investigation."

Danny looked up like something surprised him. "Now how am I going to keep my feelings quiet when I have a six year old girl crying on my shoulder, scared that someone's going to come after her?"

Steve could tell that Danny was ready to scream. "Danno, remember when Jane was killed?"

Danny looked down and rubbed his hands together. "Yeah I remember, why?"

"Do you remember how you reacted when you thought that one young man killed her?"

Danny tightened his fists in anger as he remembered what he did. "Yeah, I almost killed him. I remember how angry I was at him because I thought he was lying. I tried to act like a cop but I let my own feelings get in the way."

"Do you remember what you did after that Danno?"

"I tried to resign, but you wouldn't let me."

"Do you remember why?" Steve watched as Danny unclenched his fists and once again began rubbing his hands together.

"You told me that I was too good of a man to let go, and that I made one mistake and I wasn't going to make that same mistake again."

"That's right Danno, and you haven't made that mistake, or any mistake since, and I know that you're not going to let your feelings get in the way this time."

"Your right Steve, I won't." Danny looked up at him a lot calmer than before.

Steve took a deep breath and thought for a second. "Have you thought of any other place that Maverick might be hiding?"

"No Steve, I can't right now."

Steve stood there for a second and snapped his finger. "Alright, let's start back at the beginning."

"Well the beginning starts at Marshelle's place."

"Let's go." Steve grabbed his jacket and left his office followed closely by Danny.

**Chapter 9**

Kono drove his car along the beautiful of _Waimea Bay_, as he and Chin looked for the shack where Danny guessed Maverick could be hiding.

"You know something Bruddah? this case really seems to be eating at Danny." Chin said as he glanced down the road.

"You just _now _noticed? Man Bruddah, you need to get your ears out of the smoke." Kono said shaking his head.

Chin lightly chuckled. "I'm serious Bruddah, the last time I saw Danny act like this way was when his girlfriend, Jane, was killed."

"Yeah, your right, also the last time he seemed so restless about a case was that time that Steve got hurt and it was his first time in charge." Kono said worried. Both suddenly went quiet as they remembered those hard times.

Kono rounded one last corner when he spotted the shack. "There it is Bruddah." He said breaking the silence. Chin quickly looked up to an old shack sitting on an empty part of the beach. Kono pulled his car over on the side of the road; he and Chin got out and walked over to the shack.

Chin banged on the door to see if anyone would answer, but no one did. He opened the door and walked in to check it out.

"_Find anything?" _Kono called from outside.

"Just a blanket and some empty bottles, the bottles old, he couldn't have been here recently." Chin answered. He and Kono left the shack and as they climbed back into the car they were both worried about what to say to Steve. They both knew that Steve was fed up with the dead ends they were finding.

"What do we tell the Boss?" Chin asked as they drove back towards _Honolulu._

"I don't know Bruddah, maybe we should wait until we get back to the office to tell him." Kono answered worried.

"I agree Bruddah, no need to make him angrier than he already is."

Kono looked at Chin, and Chin looked at Kono, and they both knew without saying a word that not only Steve would be upset, but Danny as well.

* * *

Steve and Danny pulled up and parked in front of Marshelle's house, Danny noticed that the police tape that was surrounding the lawn and that sealed off the door was torn down.

"What happened here Steve?" he asked they climbed out the car.

"I don't know Danno." Steve didn't sound too reassuring.

But before he could say anything else there was a loud crash.

Steve and Danny drew out their guns and raced towards the house.

"Take the back Danno!" Steve called as he headed for the front.

Danny rushed to the back door and waited for Steve's signal.

Steve waited for a few seconds then banged on the door. "_Five-O_ open up!" he yelled.

At the back door Danny waited, but before he could open the door, he saw it swing open and a young man in old clothes rushed out and attacked him.

Steve kicked in the front door, rushed through the house and out the back to help Danny. Just as Steve pulled the man off of Danny, the man used a stone he grabbed off the ground, hit Danny and knocked him out.

Steve took the guy and cuffed him to the doorknob, then knelt down beside Danny to see if he was okay. "Danno, Danno?"

Danny slowly opened his eyes, sat up and rubbed his head where he was hit. "Steve? What happened?"

"Take it easy Danno, are you hurt bad?"

"No I'm okay."

"You're sure?" Steve asked as he helped Danny up.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

Steve watched as Danny rubbed his head again, then he grabbed the young man that he cuffed to the door and the three of them got into the car and headed back to the Palace.

* * *

As they walked into the office Jenny jumped up to greet them. "Steve, Kono called and he said that he and Chin are on their way back."

"Okay, tell them when they get here to come in and Jenny…." Steve stopped behind his desk, turned to see Jenny standing in the doorway, the guy they caught slumped in a chair and Danny standing behind him rubbing his head. "You better bring Danny an ice pack." Steve finished.

"Right Steve," Jenny said. She quickly looked at Danny then walked out shutting the door behind her.

"Alright mister lets have your name." Steve said. But the man didn't answer. "Look pal, if you don't want to jail you better tell us your name."

"Go to jail? On what charge?" the man finally said. "I haven't done anything."

"You were caught trespassing on a crime scene, and tampering with evidence."

"I wasn't tampering!" the man screamed.

"Then what were you doing?" Steve said hoping to finally get some answers.

"I went to get something that belongs to me."

Steve noticed that he kept holding his coat pocket. "What's in your pocket?"

The guy hesitated for a Moment, and then he pulled out a small bag and tossed it Steve.

Steve looked in the bag and pulled out a small clear bag with something in it. "Narcotics, how did you know about this?"

"I don't know why I shouldn't know about it, I made it." The man said in a punk tone.

Danny looked at Steve shocked.

"_You_ made this?" Steve asked. He almost couldn't believe what he just heard. The young man just nodded his head.

"Alright, let's start with your name."

"My name is Rya O'Mallie."

"And what's your connection with Marty Marshelle and Johnny Maverick?"

"Johnny Maverick's my brother-in-law."

Danny walked around in front of Rya with a shocked look on his face. "Your brother-in-law? How are you his brother-in-law?"

"Don't look so surprised, I married his little sister, Georgia."

Danny looked at Steve like he just went crazy."

"What sister?" Steve asked also confused by this news.

"Johnny had a little sister, but she's not from here and neither is he." Rya's words became even more confusing at this point than ever before, it was like the words went into one ear and out the other without stopping in the middle.

"Alright let me spell it out for you; Johnny and Georgia were both born on a small island in the _Caribbean_, their Mother was from the island and their Father was from _Mississippi_. Not long after Georgia was born their Father was killed and about 10 years later their Mother died from some kind of sickness. Johnny came over to _Honolulu_ a few years ago as a legal immigrant, but Georgia stayed at her home. Seven years ago Johnny got a letter saying that his sister was really sick, and if she didn't get good help she would die, so he went and brought her to _Hawaii_ but he didn't have enough money to help her become legal herself. I met them not long after that, Georgia and I dated for a few months then we got married. Then about a year later she got really sick and passed away."

Steve and Danny both sat down, they were finally starting to understand what Rya meant.

"How did you come to meet Marty Marshelle?"

"Well about two years after Georgia died Johnny called me and he said that since he did a favor for me by giving me a good wife that it was my turn to return the favor. He said that he knew a man that needed a little confidence boost and that I would get paid well for it. So I made a few phone calls, got the stuff I needed and gave it to them. What surprised me was the fact that the stuff I gave them should have lasted them a year."

"But it didn't, right?" Steve asked finally getting a grasp on what was being said.

"Right, I got a call from them every three months for stuff."

"Where did you go to deliver the stuff?" Danny asked, hoping that they might get more information about Susie.

"I would take it to Marshelle's house."

"Who did you see when you went to the house?" Steve asked he kept on looking at Danny, praying through his mind that whatever the young man would tell them it wouldn't make Danny upset.

"For the past few years just Johnny and Marty….except the last time I went to see them, I thought that I saw a kid."

"A kid?" Steve repeated.

"A….a little girl…. A little girl with blonde hair, Marty was shoved her into one of the back rooms and locked her in."

Danny looked at Steve then left the room before anything else was said.

"What's eating him?" Rya asked.

"That little girl is what's 'eating' him."

"Oh, did he know her?"

"Not at first, but he knows her now; he found her tied up in a closet…beaten."

Rya's eyes grew big and Steve could tell that he was surprised and scared about this information. "You didn't know about this?"

"No sir, I didn't know, honest. Wh….why was she tied up in a closet?"

"That's where Johnny would put her _after_ he and Marshelle would beat her and call her a bad girl. Those two men have been beating that little girl most of her life."

Steve watched as Rya shifted in his seat like it was on fire, he almost looked like he was ready to jump out the window from the news he had just heard.

"Mr. McGarrett, I swear, I had nothing to do with any kidnapping or beating."

"I never said that she was kidnapped."

Rya looked up even more scared. "Then where did Marshelle get the girl?"

"That little girl….is his daughter," Steve's news struck Rya so hard he started tearing up. "Now, we're trying to find the girls Mother, do you know where we can find her?"

"I uh….remember hearing Marty talking about some _wahini _on the _Big Island_, but I don't know where."

Steve just nodded his head the reached over and pushed a button on his phone. "Jenny, send Kenneth in." Steve quickly stood up as his office door opened and a young officer walked in.

"Yes Sir Mr. McGarrett?"

"Kenneth, book him; drug trafficking."

The young officer took Rya by the arm and quietly walked out of the office, Rya still in a daze.

**Chapter 10**

As Kenneth and Rya left the main office Kono and Chin walked in. Chin turned to watch the others leave when Kono bumped him for his attention. "What Bruddah?" Chin asked.

"Shh." Kono whispered then he pointed towards Jenny's desk. They both saw Danny sitting in front of her desk holding an ice pack on his head.

"Hey, what happened to you Bruddah?" Kono said as they approached him, Chin was quietly laughing wondering what Danny would answer.

Danny turned to see the two men standing next to him with huge smiles on their faces. "Well what do you think happened?"

"Oh come on Danny, level with us." Chin spoke up.

"Alright, if you insist, I tired to go out with a beautiful _wahini _and her grandMother hit me in the head with a coconut and told me to never come back."

Chin and Kono busted out laughing, and Jenny smiled and shook her head. "Come on Danny tell them the truth." She said.

"Oh, you mean that wasn't the truth?" Kono said still bursting with laughter.

"No," Danny said smiling; he couldn't believe that they might have thought it was true. "What happened was Steve and I went back to Marshelle's house to see if we couldn't find anything else that might help us. We heard someone inside so we split up and took different doors like before. I headed for the back door but before I could open it that young man you saw leaving here jumped me running out, we had a small fight when he grabbed something and knocked me out."

"Really?" the two men said at the same time.

"Yes." Danny said chuckling.

"Oh Chin, Kono," Jenny spoke up interrupting their fun. "Steve said for you two to go inside when you got here."

Kono's smile suddenly vanished like it was never there. "Oh boy Bruddah, are we in for it."

Chin looked at him with same feeling. "Well we knew that it was coming sooner or later, come on."

Jenny watched as the three men walked in the office, all wearing long faces.

Steve was looking out his window when the men walked in.

"Hey Steve." Kono said kind of upset and scared at the same time.

"Hey Bruddah, what do you got?" Steve asked as he turned around, but neither Chin nor Kono answered him. He watched as the two men just shuffled their hands and kept looking at each other, he also watched as Danny sat down rubbing his head in pain.

"Well Boss, we uh…. We went to the shack," Chin started.

"But you didn't find anything, right?" Steve finished.

"Well not exactly Steve," Kono stepped in. "We did find signs that someone did live there, but not for a while there was a lot of dust everywhere."

Both men cringed, thinking that either Steve or Danny would come down hard on them but no one said anything, instead Steve just sat down snapping his fingers for a minute.

"So, if Maverick did stay there it was a while ago. We know that he had to be there at least three days ago. Rya told me that whenever he got an order it was Maverick who called and he would show up when Rya brought the goods."

Chin and Kono looked at each other confused.

"But how could the shack get so dusty in just a few days?" Chin asked.

Steve snapped his fingers again trying to come up with an answer. "Do you remember that terrible sand storm that swept across _Waimea Bay_ a few days ago?"

Danny's eyes brightened up. "Yeah, it blew sand all over the roads and even some houses had to be evacuated because of it piling up."

"So if the could cover the roads, couldn't blow through the boards of an old shack and make it look like someone hadn't been there in a long time?" What Steve had just said started making sense to the others.

"It could." Chin said with a small smile on his face.

"But Steve you could only be half right." Danny spoke up as he stopped rubbing his head.

"What do you mean Danno?" Steve asked looking over at him.

"I mean that I said that Johnny Maverick has hidden all over the island, he could have been hiding at the shack and then again he could have been hiding somewhere else." Danny looked up to see Kono staring at him with a relieved smile on his face.

"He's right Steve." Chin said.

"Alright," Steve said as he stood. "Danno, have you thought of any other place Maverick could hide?"

"No Steve, I haven't yet, I just don't know why."

"Alright, so until you can come up with more places we'll assume that he was there a few days ago."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright, Kono I want you to try and contact the person that bought the shack from that young couple."

"Right Boss," Kono said. "Take care Bruddah." He said to Danny then he turned and left the office.

"Chin," Steve continued. "How's the search for Susie's Mother going?"

"H.P.D on the _Big Island_ is still trying to track the last two girls."

"Do you have any names?"

"Yeah, their names are uh… Laura Brighten and Anne Gulley." Chin said reading out of a folder. "They were both born on the _Mainland_; Brighten is from _Maine_, her Mother sent her to live with her grandmother when she was ten years old."

"What about Gulley?" Danny asked.

"She's from _New Mexico_, she and her family moved here eight years ago and that's all we know so far on either one of them."

"Alright Chin; I want you and Danno to check out some of those house along _Waimea Bay._"

Danny nodded his head then he and Chin headed for the door.

"Uh Chin," Steve called.

"Yes Steve?"

"I want you to drive."

Chin looked over and watched as Danny looked up from rubbing his head. "Right Boss, you got it." Chin smiled at Danny.

As they left the office Steve sat in his chair and just thought about this case, and how it had been coming up with more crazy answers than a crossword puzzle.

* * *

Chin drove his car along the beach road of _Waimea Bay_ while Danny kept an eye out for the first house.

"Chin, do you think that I'm taking this case a little hard?"

"Well, if you're asking for my opinion, I think just a little, but when something like this happens an officer can take it a little too hard at times. But we've never gone through what you're going through, so I think that you can get away with it for a while."

"Thanks Chin."

Chin and Danny stayed quiet for a few seconds when Danny suddenly grabbed his head in pain.

"Hey Danny, do you need to go see Doc?"

"No Chin, I'm…I'm okay."

"Are you sure Danny?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Chin wasn't sure what to do about Danny, he was battling on whether to just let him be, or to take him to a hospital, but before he could do anything Danny spotted the first house on the road.

"Right there Chin."  
"Who lives in this house?" Chin asked as he pulled in the driveway.

"Ms. Luana Johansen."

"_Luana_ Johansen?" the name sounded a little confusing to Chin as they got out of the car and headed for the front door.

"Yeah, her Mother was Hawaiian, and her Father is from the _Mainland_. She was named after her Mother, she passed away giving birth and Luana's Father wanted to keep his wife's name forever." They both lightly chuckled as Danny rang the doorbell.

Shortly after the door opened and in the doorway stood a young dark-skinned Hawaiian lady with long jet black hair.

"Yes?" she said with a curious look on her face.

"Ms. Johansen?" Danny asked as he pulled out his wallet.

"It's Luana."  
"Of course, my name is Dan Williams, I'm with _Five-0_, and this is Chin Ho Kelly," he said showing his badge. "We were wondering if we could ask you some questions."

"Of course, won't you come in?" the young lady slightly moved to allow Chin and Danny to come in.

"Thank you." They both said at just about the same time.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" she said as she closed the door.

"We understand that you and a few other homes were evacuated because of the sandstorm a few days ago."  
"Yes that's correct, after living here for fifteen years I have never seen a storm like that. Won't you sit down?"

"Thank you." Danny said then he, Chin, and Luana all sat down in the living room. "What exactly do you remember about that day?"

"Well umm…. I remember hearing the wind starting to pick up, at first I just thought that it would be one of those days, you know where the wind slightly picks up and then the beach is filled with surfers looking for good waves. But after about, oh…..two or three hours the winds really started blowing a lot harder and it was like that for about an hour, then the next thing I know my

doorbell is ringing and there's an officer saying that I have to leave along with the other neighbors because a storm was coming.

Danny looked around the room then glanced at Chin. "Did you see anyone else leave their homes when you left?"

"Umm, no I didn't, the next three houses are empty at this time of year because all those families go on vacations together, and I clean the houses for them when their gone. And the last four houses were already evacuated when I left."

"Surly you must have seen someone." Chin spoke up.

"Well, I don't…. oh wait I do remember seeing John on the beach earlier that day."

"Who is 'John'?" Danny asked.

"Well I call him 'John', his real name is Johnny Maverick; everyone else just calls him Johnny. I saw him leave the beach a few hours before the storm, it was the first time in weeks that I had seen him."  
"Do you know what he was doing on the beach?"

"Sure, he was throwing lily and rose petals out on the waves."

Chin looked and Danny and Danny looked back, both with confused looks on their faces.

Luana giggled. "I take it that you didn't know that Johnny had a sister? She passed away on the 25th of November six years ago; Georgia loved the ocean, so on the 25th of every month Johnny takes her two favorite flowers and throws the petals out onto the waves so he never forgets her."

Danny's eyes began to slowly fill with tears. "Do you know where we could find Johnny?"

Luana's small smile turned into a small frown. "No I don't."

"Do you know if any of the other families have returned to their homes?"

"No, somehow all the other homes got a lot more damage than mine, I don't know why."

Danny nodded his head then he and Chin stood up to leave. "Thank you Luana for everything."

Luana quickly got up and walked them to the door. "Your welcome gentlemen, I'm just sorry that I wasn't more help."

"You were a great, thank you."

Luana smiled and waved as the men left her house.

**Chapter 11**

"What do you think Danny?" Chin asked as they approached the car.

"I don't know Chin, part of me believes her and the other part's still thinking about her story." Danny wasn't too sure about his answer, but there was one thing that kept going through his mind. "Do you believe what she said about Maverick?"

"Is that what's got you bugged?" Chin started getting worried about his friend, it wasn't everyday that Danny started second guessing something he just heard. "Come on Danny, what's going on?"

"I don't know Chin," he answered as they climbed in the car and drove off down the road. "I've know Johnny for a few years and he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would do what Luana said he did."

"But Danny, anybody can have a secret side, we all do and you know it."

Danny thought about that for a Moment, he was still mad that they weren't making _any_ progress on this case. While he was thinking Chin's radio began beeping.

"_Kono to Chin Ho, come in Bruddah, where are you?"_

Chin chuckled then answered back. "Hey Bruddah, Danny and I are leaving _Waimea Bay._"

"_So soon, what happened did that girl's grandma come after Danny again?"_

Danny and Chin busted out laughing then Danny took over the radio. "No Kono, we just had only one person to talk to, everyone else is on vacation. How did you make out?"

"_Oh just terrific, that man that bought the young couples shack died last year in a boating accident off of _Waikiki _he was 60_ _years old_._"_

Danny looked over at Chin with a grim look on his face. "Did you tell Steve yet?"

"_No, I'm too scared too."_

"Why are you scared Kono?" Chin called over.

"_Haven't you ever heard about what happened to the man that didn't feed the wolf?"_

"No Kono, what happened?" Danny said smiling knowing that the answer was probably going to be a goofy one.

"_The wolf got so hungry and mad that he ate the man, but was never satisfied, so he ate until he couldn't eat anymore."_

Chin and Danny couldn't help but bust out laughing again. They kept on laughing for about five minutes then Danny finally calmed down enough to catch his breath and respond back. "What are you saying Kono, you think that Steve's a wolf and he's going to kill us for not getting any information?"

"_Haven't you heard the way he growls?"_

"Yes, but you have to remember something Bruddah, his _bark_ is worse than his _bite._" Chin called over again, and at that point Danny busted out laughing and he couldn't stop, he laughed so hard he couldn't speak so Chin had to take over talking to Kono. "Hey Bruddah, are you on your way back to the Palace?"

"_Yeah Chin I'm on my way now, what about you and Danny?"_

"Yeah, we'll be there in a few minutes."

"_Alright Bruddah, see you in a few minutes at the _Wolf's Cave_."_

Chin shook his head and laughed as he hung up the radio and watched Danny slowly stop laughing. "Hey Danny, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay; I just hope that Steve didn't hear any of that." Danny looked at Chin with a serious look on his face, and Chin didn't say another word, he and Danny just drove the rest of the way back to _Honolulu _not saying another word to each other.

* * *

As they walked into the main office Chin and Danny saw Kono sitting next to Jenny, who had a grim look on her face, at her desk.

"Jenny, what's wrong?" Danny asked as they approached her desk.

"Steve got a call from the Governor saying that he needed to talk to him so he's gone. The Governor is getting a lot pressure from some very angry people."

"What kind of person would call the Governor on a case like this?" Chin asked as he became even more confused than before.

"Well Steve's been getting calls from _Foster Care_ and different _Child Welfare_ agencies all over the islands. Everyone wants to know what's going to happen to Susie. There's a whole list of people and families that are promising her a good and safe home. But Steve kept telling them no so every single person called the Governor apparently 'reporting' Steve for not turning the girl over to them."  
Danny became so furious at that point, he didn't want hear anymore. Everyone watched as he walked over to his small office's window and punched the wall in anger. "Why do they always get involved? Can't they just let us do our job without having to breathe down our necks and cause more trouble?"

Kono stood up and walked over to Danny's desk and leaned against it. "Danny, the _Foster Care_ and _Child Welfare_ just think that since Susie's Father is in jail and we can't find her Mother yet, she would be better off in an environment that seemed more like a family to her than a cop's office or apartment."

"But don't they realize that she's being watched by people who _aren't_ cops?"

"Apparently not," Jenny said as she and Chin walked over to Kono's side. "Some one told the press that Susie is being used as a plot to catch the drug dealer, and the only way to get her to work with you was by keeping her at your apartment; little did they all know you already caught the man that sold the drugs."  
Danny didn't say anything else after that, he just leaned up against his window and quietly cried. Everyone listened to Danny crying and suddenly realized how much he really cared about Susie and how much he was affected by everything that had just been said.

"Danny," Chin spoke softly. "Why don't you see if you can't take a break from this case?"

"Why Chin?" Danny answered as he turned around. "I've come this far, if I try to leave now I'll be a quitter and Steve will call that my second mistake.

"Your second mistake, what was you first one?" Kono asked.

"Back when Jane was killed, after I beat up the guy we thought that killed her, I tried to resign but Steve wouldn't let me. He told me that beating up that guy was my first mistake and that I wouldn't make one like that again, so I can't quit now."

Suddenly the door to the main office swung open and Steve walked quickly and stiffly towards his office "Gentlemen, come with me; Jenny no calls unless it's important."

Jenny nodded her head as she watched the four men walk into the other room.

"Alright gentlemen," Steve started as he walked over to his desk and loosened his tie. "The Governor is breathing down my neck about this case so please tell me you've got something."

"I went to the address of the man that bought the shack off of the young couple," Kono had spoken up first. "He was 60 years old, healthy as a horse, but he died last year."

"Died, how?"

"He was killed in a boating accident; his daughter said that he had hopes to turn the shack into a camping place to take his grandkids, but he died before he could start. Then she mentioned that she went to the beach one day and saw a man coming out of the shack, when she asked him why he was there he just said that he was waiting for a friend."

"Did she identify the man?" Steve asked still a little frustrated but at that Moment he had started calming down.

"Yeah, I showed her a picture of Maverick and she said that, that was him."

"Alright, good Kono, Chin what about you?"

"Danny and I went back to _Waimea Bay_ to talk to some people but we only talked to one; Luana Johansen."

"And what did she have to say?"

"That about three hours after the storm hit an officer came and told her to leave. All but three houses needed evacuated." Danny jumped in.

"Why weren't all of them evacuated?" Steve asked he looked confused, even Kono had become confused at that one point.

"Three houses are all occupied by one big family and this time of year they all go on a trip to _Paris_ and Luana cleans their houses."

"Anything else?" Steve was hoping that there might be some good news that they could use.

"Yeah, about an hour before the storm hit Luana said that she saw Johnny Maverick on the beach, but he didn't come from the shack." Chin said.

"Why not the shack?"

"Luana's house has a pretty good view of the shack and she mentioned that when she saw him it had been the first time in weeks since she had seen him." Danny finished, he knew that Steve wasn't too happy about the reports they made, but he noticed something about Steve that made him confused. Steve didn't look angry, he didn't look like he was ready to shout of hit his desk, but instead he just stared at them for a minute.

"So Danno, you were right and I was wrong, but we still need to find Maverick."

Everyone looked shocked from what Steve had said but they all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thing is Steve, I still don't know where he could be hiding."

"Well Danno can you think of maybe any clues that might help?"

Danny started to rub his hands together when he looked behind him and saw a painting of a ship that Steve had kept in his office above a bookshelf. Suddenly his eyes brightened up with excitement. "A boat!"

Everyone watched as he turned around like he was ready to jump for joy.

"He told me last year during another case that he was going to hide on an old boat that he and a friend bought."

"Do you know where the boat is?" Steve asked hoping that it would not be a total waste.

"Yeah…..umm the boat was always anchored about five miles off of….." Danny was suddenly cut off by someone knocking violently on the door.

"Come in." Steve called out, and Jenny walked in like she was having a panic attack.

"What's wrong Jenny?"

"Danny, Mrs. McGuire is on the phone for you, she said it's about Susie."

Steve quickly picked up his phone and handed to Danny.

"Maggy? ...Mag…..Maggy what happened?"

Everyone listened to the sound of someone crying over the phone, and Steve noticed Danny's face starting to look horrified.

"Okay Maggy, just stay calm I'll be there in a minute…. No, no don't blame yourself, just wait….. I'll be there in a few." Danny slammed the phone down and dashed out the door. "Steve I'll call you later with the location!" he called back just as he left the main office.

Chin and Kono looked at Steve with worried looks on their faces. "What do you think happened, Boss?" Kono asked.

"I don't know Kono, but it can't be good whatever it is. Jenny, do you know what happened?"

"Mrs. McGuire was crying so much all I could make out was 'I need Danny Williams, Susie won't come out'."

Steve went from feeling worried to feeling scared. "'She won't come out.' That's what she said?"

Jenny nodded her head then turned and left the room

"What do you think it means Steve?" Chin asked.

"I think it means that something or someone scared Susie into remembering her past and the only place she feels safe is in a dark closet."  
Kono looked at Chin scared as he remembered why Susie was in a closet the last time. Everyone remained quiet and prayed that everything was going to be okay.

**Chapter 12**

Danny rushed into his apartment to see Maggy sitting on the couch and Shawn pacing in front of his bedroom door.

"Shawn, Maggy?" he said as he walked in.

"Oh Danny," Maggy stood up and hugged Danny crying.

"What happened?"

"It's my fault Dan," Shawn had spoken up." "We were out on the balcony watching clouds when she came inside and said that she'd be right back. She was gone for a couple of minutes so I came in to see if something was wrong; she was trying to get the milk out of the fridge and when I asked her if she needed help she looked at me like…..like I was a stranger. She dropped the glass, rushed into your room and locked herself in the closet crying and she won't come out."

Danny could hear Shawn's voice starting to break, he stopped hugging Maggy and walked over to Shawn and put his hand on Shawn's shoulder. "Hey Shawn, it's not your fault, I forgot to tell you that she gets scared at certain things, you didn't know and it's my fault for not telling you." Danny could tell that what he had said didn't help; he didn't know what else to do but to go in and talk to Susie.

He walked into his room, quietly shut the door, knelt down in front of the closet and opened the door. "Susie?" he whispered, he could barely see her in the back corner. "Susie, are you okay?" but she didn't answer him at first, he could hear her quietly sobbing. "Danny, is that you?" she whispered through her tears.

"Yeah, yeah Susie it's me, are you okay?"

"I was….I was a bad girl Danny."

He couldn't quite understand how at that point she was a bad girl then he remembered how she told him earlier that day how Marshelle and Maverick beat her when she went to get something to drink, but he couldn't figure out how she could be a bad girl at that Moment. "Susie, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I did."

"What did you do?"

"I took milk without asking and Daddy saw me, then I broke the cup."

Danny suddenly realized what happened; when Susie saw Shawn she thought back to that other day and didn't see Shawn but she saw her Dad instead.

"Susie, your Dad isn't here, remember? We took him away to keep you safe, it was Shawn that you saw; he wanted to know if you needed help with the milk. And don't worry about the glass, I have a lot more, now will you come out?

He held out his hands just like he did the first day they met, and once again Susie slowly grabbed his hands and came out of the dark closet and walked into the other room feeling a lot safer than she did before.

As they walked out Susie noticed Shawn sitting on the couch crying.

"Shawn?" she had spoken almost in a whisper.

Shawn lifted his head and wiped away his tears. "Yes Susie?"

"I'm sorry." She said with a sad smile on her face.

He smiled back then walked over to her and hugged her. "It's okay Susie, it's I who should say sorry, and I didn't mean to scare you."

After Shawn and Susie had apologized to each other Danny had suddenly got an idea of how to put a smile on everyone's faces.

"Anybody hungry?" he said.

Suddenly everyone started to laugh. "Yeah Danny," Maggy said as she tried to stop laughing. "I think we all could use something to eat right about now."

Danny took a hold of Susie's hand as did Maggy with Shawn and they all walked into the kitchen and started to make dinner.

* * *

Back at the palace Steve was sitting in his chair waiting for Danny to call when Jenny, Kono, and Chin walked in.

"Steve?" Chin asked.

"Yeah Chin?"

"Heard from Danny yet?"

"No, no Chin not yet."

Jenny and Kono could tell that Steve was tired and frustrated.

"Steve, why don't you go home and get some sleep?" Jenny said.

"Oh thanks love, but I'll knock off after I hear from Danno. You three go home and get some sleep and we'll start fresh in the morning."

Everyone looked at each other; Jenny just sighed and left the three men by themselves.

"Jenny's right Steve, we've got our sleep now it's your turn." Chin said.

"Oh I know your right Chin," Steve said as he stood up and looked out his window. "But there's just something in me; a gut feeling, like something's wrong, something's telling me to stay awake, I can't explain it."

Chin didn't say another word after that, he just looked down and Kono watched as Steve opened his balcony doors to let the night breeze blow in.

"Haven't you ever just had a feeling that even though _everything_ seemed right, something still felt wrong?" Steve asked as he felt the wind blown across his face and in his hair.

"Sure Steve," Kono spoke up. "Everyone calls it's 'Cop's Instinct'."

"Yeah Kono, yeah exactly…..except this time I don't think it's just instinct; something big is going to happen, and it's going to happen real soon.

* * *

After everyone finished their dinner Maggy and Shawn took the dishes and started cleaning them while Susie went to change for bed and Danny went over to his window and leaned against it.

"What's bothering you Danny?" Maggy spoke up.

"This case that we're working on; we keep coming up with dead ends and it's up to me to find our prime suspect and I keep on running into a brick wall trying to find him."

Shawn felt bad that he couldn't be help. "Dan, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Shawn."  
"Why did Susie run and hide in your closet?"

"Well uh….remember when I said that she gets scared easily? Well when she saw you, her mind went back to a couple of days ago and she thought that you were her Dad and that you were mad at her."

"Oh, wow. I guess that I never thought about it that way, I'm sorry Dan."

"Hey it's not your fault Shawn, it could have happened to anyone."

Maggy could see the sadness and tiredness growing on Danny's face. "Danny, this 'suspect' that you're looking for, have you thought of where he could be hiding?" she asked as she went to his side.

"We checked out a shack and Steve's going to….." Danny suddenly went quiet like he remembered something. Maggy watched as he went to the phone and dialed a number. "This is Williams, get me McGarrett."

* * *

Steve quickly turned from his window and grabbed his phone. "McGarrett,"

"_Steve? It's Danny. Sorry that I didn't call sooner."_

"Oh it's alright Danno, it was understandable."

"_Thanks, any ways the reason I called was to tell you where Maverick kept the boat."_

"Alright Danno, hold on." Steve reached over and grabbed a pen and paper. "Okay, go ahead."

_"The boat is always anchored five miles off of _Koko Head_; it's a small cabin cruiser registered to a _Bobbie Koon,_ its white with blue and red trim with green lettering but I can't remember the name."_

"Okay Danno, we'll take it from here, I'll see you in the morning."

"_Right, Steve. Goodnight."_

"Goodnight Danno." And Steve hung up the phone.

* * *

As Danny hung up his phone he saw that Susie had come out of the bathroom dressed for bed. "Hey Susie, you all set for bed?"

"Yes Danny."

Maggy bumped Shawn to indicate that they should leave.

"Well we'll uh, see you later Dan." Shawn said as they headed for the door.

"Alright Shawn night Maggy,"

"Night Danny, night Susie," Maggy said as she waved her hand.

"Bye Maggy, bye Shawn."

As Shawn and Maggy left, Danny knelt down beside Susie to tuck her in.

"Danny?"

"Yes Susie?"

"Will you have to work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but not for long; tomorrow I start getting a few days off so you and I can spend some time together."  
"What are we going to do?"

"Well, I had Shawn make reservations for us to go horse riding in a couple of days, and tomorrow after I get home from work I'm going to take you to _Diamond Head_."

"Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Okay, but right now it's time to get some sleep."

"Okay, goodnight Danny."

"Goodnight Susie." Danny watched as Susie fell asleep, then he stood up and walked into his room and went to bed feeling like something was wrong.

**Chapter 13**

Danny was suddenly awakened by his phone ringing beside his bed, as he reached for it he noticed that his bedside clock read 3:45am. He reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" he said drowsily.

* * *

Steve was in his car racing down the road with his sirens blaring. "Danno listen; Marshelle broke out of jail and he's on his way to your place to get Susie, you've got to get out of there."

* * *

Danny quickly sat up in bed sweating bullets. "How Steve, how did he get out?"

"_I don't know Danno, but you need to get Susie out of there!"_

"Alright Steve, I'll take her to Maggy's."

* * *

Steve rounded a corner, his tires squealing. "Okay Danno, keep me on this line and let me know when you're leaving."

"_You got it Steve."_

* * *

Danny quickly jumped out of bed, got dressed then rushed out to Susie.

"Susie, Susie wake up!" he watched as she started to slowly wake up.

"What's wrong Danny?"

"Susie you need to get dressed, your Dad is on his way here."

Susie sat up with a scared look on her face. "But you said that he wouldn't find me."

"I know Susie, and I don't know how he found us but we need to leave now."

Susie quickly grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom to change. Danny grabbed a small suitcase and started putting some of Susie's clothes in it then he rushed back into his room and grabbed his phone. "Steve?"

"_Yes Danno?"_

"Susie's getting ready, we'll be leaving soon."

"_Alright Danno, let me know when you leave."_

"You got it Steve." Danny set the phone down and walked out to see Susie standing in the living room waiting.

"I'm ready Danny."

"Okay let's go." But before he could open the door to let Susie out someone pounded violently on the door and shouted.

"_Williams, open up!"_

Danny quickly recognized the voice as Marty Marshelle; he grabbed Susie and took her to his room. "Susie quick, get under the bed and talk to Steve."

"What about you?"

"I'll be okay, now hurry."

Susie laid down on her stomach and crawled under the bed then took the phone from Danny and watched as he walked out and close the door.

Danny shut the bedroom door but before he could do anything else his front door was kicked in and Marshelle rushed in with a baseball bat in his hand and swung it at Danny. Danny was able to avoid the first two swings but after recovering from almost losing his balance Marshelle struck him and Danny hit the floor hard.

"Steve?" Susie whispered over the phone.

"_Susie, where's Danny?"_

Before she could answer she suddenly heard a loud crash then heard someone yelling.

"_Susie?"  
_

"Steve, my Daddy's here."

"_Susie, where's Danny?"_

"I think Daddy's hitting him."

"_How can you tell Susie?"_

"I hear hitting and Danny yelling."

"_Susie where are you?"_

"I'm in Danny's room hiding." She whispered.

"_Okay, okay Susie, I'm almost there. Can you hear the sirens?"_

Susie listened for a Moment then heard the faint sound of sirens. "Yes."

Suddenly she heard another noise; a door slammed not to far away from her. "Someone just went into the bathroom."

"_How can you tell?"_

"Because I heard the door next to Danny's room shut."

_"Alright Susie, I'm almost too where you are, I'll be there in a few minutes."_

Susie quietly hung up the phone and waited to see if Danny was okay, suddenly a quiet squeak broke what silence there was.

Susie quietly gasped as she saw that it was the door that squeaked, and she watched as a figure crawled into the room, stopped in front of the bed and rolled over.

It didn't take her very long to realize that it was Danny.

"Danny?" she whispered but he didn't answer; she carefully crawled out from underneath the bed and sat next to him. "Danny?" she cried.

"Susie?" he whispered in pain. "Susie…..did you talk…..talk to St….Steve?" his voice sounded like it was dry and he was breathing hard like he couldn't take a deep enough breath, he had cuts and bruises on his face and his sand colored hair had blotches of bloody red in it.

"Yes, I talked to him, he's almost here." Susie tried her hardest to keep Danny awake while they waited for Steve to get there.

Suddenly Susie heard footsteps running closer to the apartment, she crawled over to the door and peeked out and saw three men stopping outside the main doorway; she recognized Chin and Kono but the third man she didn't know at first, then she remembered the picture on the lamp table and remembered Danny calling him "Steve".

"Chin, Kono!" she quietly called.

Chin saw her in the bedroom with someone lying on the floor behind her. "Steve, there's Susie."

"But where's Marshelle?" Kono whispered.

"He's in the bathroom." Steve answered. "Chin you and Kono go the edge of the door and try to get him out, if he doesn't…go get him, I'll cover you from here."

Kono and Chin slowly crept over to the bathroom door then Kono banged on the door. "_Five-O_, open up!" he yelled

Suddenly there was a shot and a hole was formed in the door, then Kono kicked in the door and he and Chin went after Marshelle. At first Marshelle put up a struggle but then Kono grabbed him from behind and Chin cuffed him.

"_We got him Steve." _Kono called

Steve stood up straight and sighed deep then he quickly remembered Susie. He ran into Danny's room to see Danny lying on the floor and Susie sitting next to him crying.

"My g…." he whispered. He knelt down beside Danny with a horrified look on his face. "Danno, Danno?" But he didn't answer. "Kono get an ambulance!" Steve yelled.

"Is Danny going to be alright?" Susie asked.

"I don't know Susie, he's not answering me. Danno, Danno can you here?"

"_Steve the ambulance is on its way."_

"Thanks Kono." Steve started getting worried about his friend; he wouldn't move or answer to Steve's calling.

Suddenly through the sound of Susie's crying he heard another voice.

"_Susie?"_

Steve and Susie looked down to see Danny starting to stir.

"Danno?" Steve whispered.

"St…..Steve? Where's…..where's Susie?"

"She's here and she's safe. Danno what happened?"

"I was tr…..trying to…..to leave when he…..he c…..when he came…..at me with…..with a…..bat." Danny's voice kept breaking up and the way he sounded was like he was running out of air. "Steve, I can't…I can't…."

"Can't what Danno?"

"I can't br…..breath."

"Hang on; hang on Danno, help is on its way, just hang on."

Susie grabbed one of Danny's hands and held it tight, she listened to him moan through the pain. Suddenly she heard a noise coming from outside the building; it was sirens coming closer.

"Steve, the ambulance is here." Kono said, he peeked into the room and became terrified at what he saw.

"Thanks Kono, make sure that they can get through when they get here."  
"Right Steve." And Kono left the room.

Danny tried hard to stay awake, but he kept finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

"Hold on Danno, helps coming."

"I'm tr….. I'm trying to St….Steve, I don't….. I don't know…..how much long…..longer I can…I can….." Suddenly Danny just became overwhelmed with pain; Steve grabbed his other hand and held it tight in his and felt Danny trying to squeeze his hand to overcome the pain.

"Hang on, hang on Danno." Steve then turned to see two paramedics rushing into Danny's apartment with a stretcher; he moved aside to let one man check Danny out.

"How is he?"

"We need to get him out of here fast." The two men carefully picked Danny up, laid him on the stretcher and took him out. Steve stood up and started to follow when he looked back and saw Susie slowly get up.

"Are you alright Susie?" he asked, but she didn't answer, she just grabbed her bag and something off the lamp table and started to follow Steve.

They were almost outside when Steve felt something grab his hand, but he didn't need to look down to see that it was Susie holding his hand. They climbed into the car and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

**Chapter 14**

The two paramedics rushed Danny into an exam room followed by Dr. Bergman and a couple of other doctors. Steve and Susie walked into the hospital and stopped outside the room and waited to see what would happen. Susie sat down in a chair and watched as Steve paced the floor back and forth and she wondered if it had been the first time that Danny had ever been hurt. She saw Chin and Kono walk towards them with tired faces.

"Steve, we just got done talking with the warden; he said that a new guard traded posts with the man that was guarding Marshelle, a few minutes later Marshelle was gone." Chin said.

"What about the new guard?" Steve asked as he stopped pacing.

"He was an imposter; no one got a good enough look to make a positive I.D. It's more than likely that it was Maverick." Kono said.

"Yeah, yeah of course it was Maverick; he knows Danno, knows where he lives, he probably even saw or heard of him taking Susie in and knew that Marshelle would do anything, even murder, to get her back." Steve's words had come out sounding in a jumble of tiredness, frustration, hatred.

While they were waiting Kono heard something quiet; he turned around and saw Susie hugging something crying, he walked over knelt down in front of her. "Hey Susie, Danny will be alright, he's strong."

But she didn't answer him.

"Kono is right Susie," Chin said as he walked over to them. "Danny has been through a lot more tougher things than this. And we're going to find the man that let your Dad out of jail."

"And we won't give up until he's in jail along with your Dad." Kono finished. Susie looked at both men then looked at what she was holding; it was the picture of all four men in front of the Palace. "_Bruddah Makemake Ka mea E Loa'o ana No'u 'Oe ia'u Laua Kuma Pilikia_?" she said finally.

Steve looked at her with a shocked look on his face and Chin and Kono looked at each other.

"Yeah Susie, that's right." Kono said smiling.

"Where did you learn that saying, Susie?" Steve asked.

"Danny told me, he said that it's something you all live by whenever one is in trouble….. Like when you were hurt or when someone told a lie on Chin or when Kono was taken, he said that the rest of you guys wouldn't give up until you found who caused the trouble."

Chin noticed that nothing was said about Danny having problems. "Susie, did Danny ever tell you about him ever getting in trouble?"  
"No he never did, it looked like it made him to sad to talk about it."

Suddenly the door to the exam room opened and the doctors took Danny out of the room and carefully rushed him down the hall, Steve caught Dr. Bergman before he had a chance to follow the others.

"Doc, how is he?"

"He's in bad shape Steve, he needs surgery, I'll let you know more as soon as I can." Steve had a troubled look on his face as the doctor headed down the hall.

"Steve, why don't you go home and get some rest, you haven't slept at all." Chin said.

"No, no Chin, I'm going to stay here, what I want you to do is to go to the jail, someone _must_ have seen something."

"Right Steve,"  
"And Kono, I want you to keep searching for Marshelle's friend on the _Big Island_." Steve didn't want Susie to know that they were searching for her Mother.

"You got it Boss."

"And send a couple of H.P.D men out to _Koko Head_; see if they can find Maverick's boat."

Both men nodded then turned and dashed down the hall hoping to come back with some answers.

"Steve?" Susie spoke up.

"Yeah Susie?" he answered almost in frustrated tone.

"Has Danny ever been in the trouble?"

Steve turned around and saw Susie looking down at the floor; he quietly chuckled then sat down next to her and sighed. "Yeah….yeah Danno's been in trouble before; he's been in a lot of trouble. One time he was….was in so much trouble… he almost died." His words seemed to get caught in his throat, like it was hard for him to talk.

Susie looked up surprised. "What happened?"

"About three years ago Danno was teaching some kids how to play a game when a man asked if he could help and Danno let him.

After a while of playing a kid accidentally hit the man and Danno had to bring him to the hospital."

"But how did he almost die?"

"He was talking to a cop, a good friend of his, while the doctors were checking the man to see if he was okay. And while they were talking, the man thought that he was in another place fighting and he thought that the cop was the person he was fighting and thought that Danno was in trouble.

He grabbed the cop's gun, shot the cop and then accidentally shot Danno thinking that someone else did it, he grabbed Danno and took him to a room where no one could get to them."

"Did you try to get to him?"

"Yeah, yeah we tried; I tried going straight down the hallway but I couldn't make it, we tried to make him think that we were his friends but he wouldn't listen. I found out a couple of days later that Danno tried to make the man go out and get help but he wouldn't."

"So how did you get to him?"

"We talked to a person that worked with the man and it turned out that the man was in a fight just like that one; so I pretended to be a guy that really _could_ help. When I got to them Danno was in a deep sleep but I had to tell the man that he had died…..the doctors said that if we hadn't gotten to him when I did, he would have died."

Susie looked down with a sad relieved look on her face. "So….. I guess that… it was a good thing that you didn't give up on him, huh?"

Steve lightly chuckled "Yeah… yeah it was a good thing." He looked down the hall to see if Dr. Bergman might have been coming back but so far nothing, when he looked back at Susie and watched as she yawned.

A young nurse walked by when she saw Susie yawn, she walked over and leaned down next to Steve. "Mr. McGarrett, there is an empty room next to the one for Mr. Williams if the girl would like to get some sleep."

"Thank you nurse, come on Susie." Steve said as he stood.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he picked her up.

"You're going to a place where you can get some sleep." Steve said as he followed the nurse down the hall.

"What about Danny?" she asked as she almost fell asleep on Steve's shoulder

"He'll be alright; his room will be right next to yours."

* * *

The nurse took them into a room and Steve carefully laid Susie on a bed and watched as the nurse tucked her in.

"Can I do anything for you Mr. McGarrett, some coffee maybe?"

"Yes, thank you."

The nurse smiled then turned and left the room.

* * *

Chin pulled his car into the parking lot of the jail and was met by Benny.

"Hey Chin."

"Hey Benny, how long have you been here?"

"For a few minutes, I figured that you would be at the hospital."

"Steve doesn't want us crawling up the walls waiting. Have you found out anything?"

"Not much more than we already know; the guard said that it was too dark to see his face whoever he was.

He sure was smart enough to keep his face away from the camera, and no one saw anything, Marshelle duck through all the blind spots like he knew the layout of this place."

"Alright Benny, thanks a lot."

"No problem let me know how Danny is."

"You got it Bruddah." Chin climbed back into his car and drove off.

* * *

The nurse walked back into the room holding a cup of coffee in her hand; she saw Susie still asleep and Steve standing, looking out the window.

"Mr. McGarrett?" she said quietly.

Steve turned around like he was just woken up. "Hmm, yes nurse?"

"Here's your coffee sir."

"Oh thank you." He took the cup and slowly sipped on it. "That's very good."

"I just made it fresh sir, the uh….pot was empty." The nurse said as she smiled through her embarrassment.

"Thank you, has Dr. Bergman come back yet?"

"No sir, not yet; I overheard him talking to a couple of other doctors on their way to surgery saying that it would probably take some time."

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Steve was tired, but more than that, he was worried for his friend.

"Not much, I think he said that Mr. Williams had a couple of broken ribs and maybe a fractured arm, but I can't be certain."

Steve noticed that the nurse looked sad about something. "What's wrong nurse?"

"Oh nothing, I just hope that Mr. Williams will be okay."

"Oh, do you know him?" Steve was trying to stay awake.

"Not really, I just met him yesterday; he and another man came to my house asking about the big sand storm from a few days ago, he was very nice."

"You're Luana Johansen?" Steve asked.

"Yes sir I am."

Both Luana and Steve chuckled at the surprise she had just given him.

While they were chuckling, Dr. Bergman walked in.

"Steve?"

"Doc," Steve said trying to be serious. "How's Danno?"

"He's in bad shape Steve."

"Can I see him?"

The doctor wasn't too sure at first but he remembered that he couldn't really stop Steve from doing what he wanted to.

"Alright Steve, but just for a minute, he needs his rest."

They left the Luana with Susie and walked into the next room.

* * *

Steve stood in the doorway and just stared ahead like there wasn't anything there. He was scared at what he saw; Danny was sleeping in an oxygen tent, he had a bandage on his head and his left arm was wrapped in a cast.

"Steve?" the doctor said.

"I'm sorry Doc." He answered. "How bad is it?"

"He had four broken ribs and one punctured his lung, that's why he couldn't breathe. He also had some internal bleeding, plenty of cuts and bruises, his left arm is broken in two places and he also has a brain concussion, but that seems to be from another fight."

"What are his chances?"

"Well, he's young and strong; I'd say that he has a good chance of making it."

"Thank God." Steve whispered.

Dr. Bergman saw tiredness flush over Steve's face. "Steve, you're tired, why don't you get some sleep Danny will be alright."

Steve just nodded his head, he left the room and walked into the other room and saw that Luana had gone. As he walked over to a chair he noticed the clock on the wall read "5:57." He slumped in the chair and before he could do anything else he was sound asleep.

**Chapter 15**

Steve slowly stirred when he heard someone calling his name.

"_Steve? Steve."_

He woke with a start and saw Chin standing next to Kono who had his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Morning Bruddah's." he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"More like 'good afternoon'." Kono said smiling.

"What time is it?" Steve said suddenly worried, thinking that he slept in.

Chin chuckled. "Kono is only teasing Boss, it's about 9 o'clock."

"We wanted to wake you sooner but Doc said that you needed the sleep." Kono said.

Steve stood up and stretched his back. "Where's Susie?"

"She woke up earlier; Shawn and Maggy McGuire took her out for the day." Chin said as he stepped to the side to stay out of Steve's way.

"What about Danno?"

"He's still asleep, Doc said that he took a harsh beating and that it might be a while before he wakes up." Kono answered.

"Chin, what about the jail?"

"Benny was there before I was, he said that it was too dark to see anything, even the cameras didn't get anything helpful. He also said that someone had to help Marshelle through all the blind spots so he wouldn't be seen."

"And no one _did _see him. What about the search for Mrs. Marshelle, Kono?"

"I'm still waiting for a call from the _Big Island_, so far nothing."

"We also got a report back about the boat out at _Koko Head_." Chin said. "The owner was on the boat and claimed that Maverick hasn't been around in weeks. H.P.D is checking his story."

"Alright Chin, what about that A.P.B we put out on Maverick?"

"Nothing so far, Boss." Chin said a little upset.

"Okay, you've both done good but we can't give up, Kono hit some of your informers, see if they can come up with something."  
"You got it Boss."

"Chin, I want you to take over the search for Susie's Mom, see if you can't get anymore information on the last two girls that might put a connection of familiarities between Susie and them."

"Okay Steve." As Chin and Kono left the room Steve picked up the phone and dialed a number. "This is McGarrett; I want four officers on twelve shifts posted at _Leahi Hospital_, room 34B." he hung up the phone and walked out of the room and saw Dr. Bergman standing in the doorway holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Steve, I was just coming to bring this to you."

Steve took the cup and took a quick sip. "_Mahalo _Doc."

"Did you get any sleep Steve?"

"Yeah I got some sleep."

"That's good; I didn't want to have to admit you here too."

Both men chuckled for a minute.

"So how's the case going?" Doc said smiling.

"Rough, I'm trying to find the man that's responsible for most of Susie's beating and the reason that Danno's here."

"But I thought that you already caught the guy."

"We did, but he was released by another man that's more trouble than Marshelle. Danno knew where he could be but so far he's only given us a couple of places and the guy's never there."

"Well what's the guy's name?" Dr. Bergman could still see the tiredness and frustration growing on Steve's face.

"His name is uh….. Maverick, Johnny Maverick, why do you know him?"

"The name sounds familiar, but I've never met him. I think I know someone that might be able to help."

"Who is he?"

"He's a she, her name is Chrissy; she and her Father run a restaurant not too far away from Danny's apartment building, it's called '_Diamond in the Rough_'."

"'_Diamond in the Rough_'," Steve repeated. "That's an interesting name."

"Well, she wanted to name it after her favorite place on the island: _"Diamond Head." _Her Father was a little skeptical but he finally agreed on it."

"ThanksDoc, let me know if Danno wakes up?"

"You got it Steve."

* * *

Steve took one last sip of his coffee then handed the cup back to the doctor and left the hospital.

Steve pulled his car into the restaurant's parking lot; the outside of the building was dark and light brick mixed, it had an awning that had _"Diamond in the Rough"_ printed on it, and there was a sign in the window that read _"We're open, please come in."_

Steve lightly chuckled as he climbed out of the car; he took a deep breath then walked in and was met by a waitress.

"Welcome to _Diamond in the Rough_, can I help you?" the young lady said, she didn't look much older than eighteen; here dark blue eyes had a warm look that made people feel welcomed.

"Yes, I'm looking for Chrissy." Steve answered, his tired smile seemed to fade away as heard the kindness in the young lady's words.

"Of course, she's working the breakfast bar right now," The young girl pointed in the direction of the bar. "She's the one on the left."

"_Mahalo_." Steve walked passed the young lady and stopped at the bar. "Chrissy?" he asked calmly.

A moment later a young black lady turned around to see who was calling her name; she had a smile on her face and her dark brown eyes beamed with happiness to see someone new.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked with excitement.

"McGarrett, _Five-0_, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?"

"Oh sure, uh… why don't we go to the office it's not as busy."

Steve followed Chrissy down a long hallway into a small office in the back.

"Now then Mr. McGarrett, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for someone and Dr. Bergman thought that you might be able to help."

"Well I know a lot of people but I'll do my best. Won't you sit down?"

"Thank you."

Chrissy sat behind a desk and waited until Steve sat down before they continued.

"Now, who is it exactly that you're looking for?" Chrissy asked with her smile still on her face, her smile seemed to be glued to her face, it never went away.

"Johnny Maverick?" Steve said stiffly.

Chrissy's smile suddenly changed into a worried frown, her emotion changed so quickly that it seemed like her smile was never there. "Why do you want Johnny, has he done something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so, he's wanted for drug trafficking, child assault, and accessory to the attempted murder of an officer."

"I don't believe that Johnny would do those things, why he's the nicest man I've ever met."

"Why don't you tell that to Rya O'Mallie?"

"Who's he?"

"He is Johnny's brother-in-law; he's the man that Johnny forced into making drugs."

"That's not true, I won't believe it!" Chrissy jumped up and just stared out the office window.

Steve stood up and leaned against the desk. "Why, why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because I know Johnny, he wouldn't use drugs, he wouldn't make drugs, and he wouldn't hurt kids or try to kill anyone."

"Why don't you tell little Susie Marshelle how sweet Johnny is; she will have scars all her life because of what Johnny did when he was pumped up on stuff."

"No, NO! You're lying!"

Steve pounded his fist on the desk then walked around and grabbed Chrissy so she would look at him. "If you don't believe me why don't you go visit your friend Dr. Bergman and ask him about Danny Williams; Johnny being the sweet man that he is broke a man out of prison, and that man nearly killed Danny and now he's in the hospital breathing out of an oxygen tent."

Steve started to calm down when he saw Chrissy crying. "Chrissy, please, I need your help."

"But what can I do?" she asked as Steve let go of her arms.

"Tell me if you have seen him recently."

"Johnny, uh, came here two nights ago and stayed in the basement like he always does. He uh…..left early before I opened; he's always running off somewhere, I…. I don't know where he could be now."

"Thank you Chrissy." Steve headed for the door still a little steamed up.

"Mr. McGarrett?" Chrissy called.

Steve stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

"For the record, I hope that your friend Danny will be okay."

"How do you know that he's my friend?" he asked without turning to see her.

"When you mentioned that he was in the hospital, I could see that you really care about whether he's going to be alright or not, and only friends have those looks."

Steve didn't say another word, he just opened the door and left the office and walked back down the hall and left the building.

* * *

Steve had barely gotten back into his car when his radio started calling.

"_Central to McGarrett, come in Car One."_

"This is McGarrett."

"_Message from the _Leahi Hospital_; Williams regained consciousness and is asking for you."_

Steve started his car, pulled out of the parking lot and sped down the road back to the hospital with his sirens wailing. He had sped down the road like a knife through butter passing all the traffic lights without going through one red light; a trip that normally would have taken thirty minutes only took Steve fifteen.

* * *

He pulled in front of the hospital and ran inside the building, as he approached Danny's room Dr. Bergman walked out.

"Doc?" Steve said as he walked up to the doctor.

"Steve, I didn't expect you so soon, then again I don't know why I would expect you any later."

"How's Danno?" Steve huffed like he was out of air.

"He woke up about forty minutes ago, at first he was delusional thinking that he was still fighting, but after hearing his name a couple times he snapped out of it and immediately asked for you."

"How's he doing?"

"He's still very weak, but he is improving, he is able to breathe some on his own but I think it's best if he stays in the oxygen tent just until I'm sure that his lung won't re-collapse."

Steve nodded his head then noticed Benny standing outside the room.

"Is there another man inside the room with Danno, Benny?"

"Yes Steve, Kenneth is; we swap with Joshua and Noah every twelve hours per your instructions." Benny answered.

"_Mahalo_ Benny." Steve said, then he took a deep breath and walked into the room.

**Chapter 16**

As he had opened the door Steve saw Noah standing next to the door ready just in case something would happen.

"Hi Steve." Noah whispered.

"Noah," Steve responded. "Has he said anything else?"

"Not for a while, he's been struggling to stay awake."

Steve nodded then patted Noah's shoulder letting him know that he could leave.

As Noah shut the door behind him Steve walked over to Danny's side, he still found it hard to his friend just lying there.

"Danno?" he whispered, but Danny didn't say anything. "Danno?"

But nothing happened; Steve was beginning to wonder if Danny would ever wake up again, he turned to leave but before he could open the door he heard something.

"_Steve?"_

Steve turned to see Danny starting to stir. "Danno?" he said as he got closer to the bedside.

"Hi Steve." Danny whispered.

"Hello Danno." Steve said smiling. "How do you feel?"

Danny took a deep breath. "I'm…. I'm alright, just a little sore."

"I bet. We were all worried about you." Steve listened as Danny quietly chuckled.

"How's Susie?"

"She's alright; Shawn and Maggy took her out for the day."

Danny slightly nodded. "What happened? All I can remember is you calling, saying that Marshelle was coming for Susie, everything else is fuzzy."

"You tried to leave but Marshelle showed up, you hid Susie and had her talk to me while you attempted to stop Marshelle."

Danny lightly chuckled. "I guess that didn't work so well huh?"

Steve smiled trying to; once again, keep Danny's spirit from falling.

"Have you found Johnny yet?"

"No, Danno not yet, but until we do you and Susie are still in danger."

"What…what about Susie's Mom?"

"No, Chin is still working on that." Steve sighed with tiredness; even though he liked talking to Danny he was getting a little annoyed by all the questions.

"Steve?" Danny whispered.

"Yes Danno?"

"I think I know where Johnny might be, somehow the rest of his hiding places just hit me."

Steve's face lit up with happiness as he grabbed his notepad and pen. "That's great Danno, where are they?"

"He's been hiding all over the island, there's five other places where he's been know to hide; a small bunker at _Diamond Head_. He has an old girlfriend, Mini, she lives in _Pearl City_. Uh…. he uh…sometimes hides out at the riding academy that's near _Kalanianaole Highway_. And there's his friend, David who lives in _Wahlawa_." Danny suddenly stopped to catch his breath.

"Danno, are you alright?" Steve asked.

"Yeah I'm alright, the uh…last place is an old house that's about two blocks away from my place it's the only empty house within a two mile radius."

Steve could see tiredness flushing over Danny's face. "Why don't you get some more rest Danno?"

Danny didn't say anything; he just smiled and slowly nodded his head. Steve smiled as he put his notepad away, the turned and headed for the door. As he reached for the doorknob Danny called his name.

"Steve?"

"Yeah Danno?" Steve answered without turning to see his friend.

"Get him for me, will ya?"

Steve lightly chuckled. "You got it Danno." Then he opened the door and left the room

* * *

As he quietly shut the door behind him, Steve saw Chin Ho and Kono sitting, waiting for him. "Chin, Kono, what are you doing here?"

Both men jumped with excitement like they had just won the lottery.

"We came by when we heard that Danny came to." Kono said. "How is he?"

"He's alright; Doc said it'll be a couple more days before he's fully recovered."

"That's great Boss," Chin said smiling. "We have some good news for you too."

"I could use some good news right about now, what is it?"

"We think we found Mrs. Marshelle."

"Who is it?"

"Anne Gulley," Kono said. "According to some of her old friends she met Marshelle about seven years ago, then she disappeared for about two months, when she came back she was pregnant and announced that she was moving to _Hilo,_ she left no forwarding address."

"Are the police on the _Big Island_ searching for her?"

"Yeah, but they said that it could take some time to find her, there are a lot of girls with her description." Chin answered.

"Alright, in the mean time Danno thought of five other places where Marshelle could be hiding, split up and get some officers to help."

"You got it Boss." Chin said, Steve then handed them the list with the hiding places and watched as the two men turned and left the hospital.

**Chapter 17**

Kono pulled his car into a driveway and saw a young lady that looked to be in her early twenties washing a car.

"Can I help you?" the young lady called out; she was about 5'5", her reddish brown was pulled back in a ponytail and her green/blue eyes had an annoyed look.

Kono climbed out of the car, then he grabbed his badge to show it to the lady. "_Five-O_, I'm looking for a Ms. Mini."

"I'm Mini, what do you want?"

Kono was shocked by the lady's attitude. "I came to talk to you about Johnny Maverick."

"Yeah, what about Johnny, is he in trouble again?"

"I'm afraid so, a friend of his said that we might find him here."

"Yeah, who told ya that? I haven't seen him since last night." Mini looked like she was ready to spit. "He came by yesterday to borrow my Dad's old uniform and hasn't been back since."

"Your Father's old uniform?" Kono repeated.

Mini scoffed like she had just heard the dumbest question ever. "My Dad's old _security_ uniform, he used to work out at the _Oahu Prison_ before he retired last year."

"Thank you miss, you've been a big help." Kono climbed back into his car and as he started to pull out of the driveway Mini yelled back at him.

"Hey, when you find Johnny tell him I was my Dad's uniform back!"

But Kono just ignored her as he left the young lady alone.

* * *

Chin left a small building that was almost covered in scrap metal climbed into his car and grabbed his radio.

"Chin Ho to Kono."

"_Kono here Bruddah, what's up?"_

"I just finished talking to David here in _Wahlawa_ and he hasn't seen Johnny in over a month, how about you?"

"_I'm just now leaving _Pearl City_; I talked to Mavericks old girlfriend, Mini. She said that Johnny went by her house last night and borrowed her Father's old security uniform he used to work out at the prison."_

"_Oahu Prison_?" Chin suddenly started to put the pieces together.

"_Yeah, hopefully the Boss will like that. Have you heard from anyone else?"_

"Yeah, a couple of officers went out to the bunker and the riding Academy, but according to different resources Johnny hasn't been around those places for weeks."

"_What about the old house not far from Danny's?"_

"Steve decided to check that out himself, he found it to be a condemned place that is supposed to be knocked down within the next few days. He also talked to a couple of neighbors and they said that Johnny left the house five days ago and he hasn't been back since."

"_Where is Steve now?"_

"He's probably at the office now, he said that he was going to be there and he wants us to meet him there when we finished."  
_"Alright, I'll meet you there then."_

* * *

Susie and Shawn were sitting on a bench waiting for Maggy to finish making a phone call, Susie started to show signs that she was tired.

"Is Maggy almost done Shawn?" She asked impatiently.

"I think so, she just wanted to call the hospital and make sure that you can stay there again."

"Oh."

Shawn felt a little uncomfortable being alone with Susie because he never could get use to being around kids. "So, uh…..did you have fun today?"

"Yeah." Susie also felt a little uncomfortable sitting next to Shawn. "Are we going out again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, um Danny had me make arrangements to do something extra special tomorrow."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yup." Shawn replied.

The two of them just sat there not saying another word to each other.

Maggy approached them giggling.

"What's so funny Mag's?"

"Oh nothing Shawn, the hospital said that Susie could stay with Danny tonight."

Shawn looked down at Susie smiling. "Well, that's good to hear, isn't it Susie?"

"I guess so." Susie whispered.

Shawn looked at Maggy thinking that she didn't want to go back. Maggy slightly raised her hand to Shawn telling to wait a second then knelt down beside Susie.

"Susie, are you tired?"

"A little bit."

"Well then, why don't we go and see Danny so you can get some sleep?"

Susie nodded her head then Shawn picked her up and the three of them got into a car and headed back to the hospital.

* * *

Chin walked into Steve's office and saw Kono sitting and Steve staring out the window.

"Hey Chin." Steve said, he sounded tired and worried.

"You alright Boss?"

"I just got a call…from Johnny Maverick."

Chin's tired facial feature suddenly flushed into a mixture of surprise and worry.

"He said that if we don't stop looking for him," Steve continued "He was going to make sure that Danno and Susie wouldn't see another sunrise."

Chin just stood there like a statue, he didn't know whether he should speak or not.

"I called H.P.D, they said that they could put some extra guards in the hospitals corridor, but I have a feeling that, that won't stop Johnny."

"What do you want us to do Boss?" Kono finally spoke up.

"What I don't want you to do is stop looking for Maverick," Steve turned from his window with his hand in a fist. "look in every tunnel, under every rock, find out where he eats, sleeps, hangs out, who is friends are, and don't stop until you find him. Check with Danno, maybe he knows some of Maverick's other friends, get his picture out to every bus station, police car, cab car, airport…. I want it to be impossible for him to hide on this rock!"

Suddenly Steve's phone started buzzing,

Steve picked it up. "Yes Jenny? Put him on…Yes Chief? You're sure? Alright, what's the address?"

Chin and Kono watched as Steve wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"I'll be there in a couple of hours Chief, _Mahalo_." Steve quickly hung up the phone, grabbed the paper, grabbed his jacket then headed out the door.

"What's up Boss?" Chin called as he and Kono followed Steve out.

"_Big Island _police found Mrs. Marshelle, its Anne Gulley. You were right, she dated Marshelle seven years ago; after she had Susie, Anne and her parents disappeared leaving Susie in the custody of her Father. I'm going to see if I can't bring her back."

"What do want us to do Boss?"

"Don't stop looking for Maverick!"

Jenny, Chin, and Kono watched as Steve dashed out the door.

* * *

Not much later Steve arrived at the hospital and met Noah outside Danny's room. "Hey Noah, how is it going?"

"It's quiet; you're the first person that's been here in an hour."

"Who else is on guard with you?"

"Joshua is sir, but he stepped out at the request of Ms. Marshelle."

Steve smiled then walked into the room to hear something that surprised him.

"…..and bless Mommy wherever she is, I know that she didn't want me but please let her know that I still love her." Susie prayed. "And please help Danny to feel better so he can show me more of this beautiful island that you

made. In Jesus Name, amen." As Susie started to crawl in the bed she spotted Steve standing in the doorway. "Steve?"

"Hello Susie, I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's okay."

Steve slowly walked over to Susie's bed and sat down. "Susie, where did you learn how to pray?"

"A lady taught me; my Daddy would leave me at home a lot, and one night I heard someone talking outside my window. When I looked out side I saw an old lady sitting on the ground talking but no one else was around, I asked her who was she talking too and she told me about praying and how God always listens and answers prayers."

"I see." Steve was thinking about that when Susie quietly yawned, she laid down and started to fall asleep.

Steve saw her falling asleep, then he covered up and waited for a minute, then he stood up, walked over to the window and looked up at the dark starry sky. "God? Please don't let this little girls prayer down." He whispered, then he walked over to Danny's bedside. "Danno, Danno?"

Danny slowly opened his eyes. "Hey Steve, what's going on?"

"We found Mrs. Marshelle."

"Who is it?" Danny struggled as the tiredness as it slowly overwhelmed him.

"Anne Gulley, she became pregnant a little over six years ago after she met Marty. After Susie was born Anne and her parents disappeared..."

"Leaving Susie to be raised by Marty." Danny finished.

"That's right, I'm going to the _Big Island_ to see if she won't come back here, I'll be back sometime tomorrow. Get some more sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

As Steve headed for the door Danny called out his name again.

"Steve?"

"Yeah Danno?" he answered as he turned around.

"Don't stay away too long."

"You got it Danno."

As Danny fell asleep Steve quietly left the hospital.

**Chapter 18**

A few hours later Steve arrived on the _Big Island_ and was met outside the gate by the Chief of Police. They talked for a few minutes on their way out to a cab then Steve climbed into the cab and arrived a few minutes later at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gulley. He paid the cab driver then walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later the door slowly opened and a young lady appeared in the doorway; her blonde hair flowed down to her waist, and her blue eyes were almost like bright sapphires.

Steve's eyes grew big when he looked at the lady's face; she looked just like Susie just older.

"Can I help you?" she quietly.

"Yes, I'm McGarrett with _Hawaii Five-O_; I'm looking for a Ms. Anne Gulley."

"That would be me, have I done anything wrong?"

"No, no I just wanted to ask you some questions."

"Oh ok, umm won't you come in?"

"Thank you." As he walked into the living room, Steve saw pictures of a little girl growing up all over the room, and each one of them looked like Susie.

"What can I do for you Mr. McGarrett?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Marty."

Anne suddenly sat down in a chair gasping with shock. "Wh…..why do you want to talk about him? I mean, I haven't seen or heard from Marty for years."

"I know that, what I wanted to ask you was how come you disappeared six years ago?"

"_Because Mr. McGarrett, Marty Marshelle was unfit to marry my daughter."_ A voice spoke up from the other room, Anne jumped to her feet when her parents walked in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gulley I presume?" Steve questioned.

"You presume correctly Mr. McGarrett, now may _I _ask why you are asking about that awful brute."

"Now now Veronica, I'm sure that Mr. McGarrett has a very good reason for asking about Marty, right Mr. McGarrett?" the Father asked holding onto his wife's shoulders.

"Yes Mr. Gulley…."

"Oh please, call me Victor."

"….Victor, I came to ask, Ms. Gulley, why did you leave Marty?"

"She had no real reason to stay with him Mr. McGarrett; he had no job, no home, and certainly no future."

"So leaving your granddaughter with him is no _real _reason?"

Anne's eyes grew with surprise. "Their granddaughter, you mean that my baby's alive?"

Steve had a small confused look on his face. _She didn't know about Susie, why would she assume that she's dead?_ He thought to himself.

"How exciting, I'm very happy for you dear." Veronica said sarcastically.

Anne looked at her Mom shocked. "You knew, didn't you? You knew that she was alive all this time. Why did you tell me that she was stillborn?"

"Because, you were destined for greater things, you were going to college; you were going to marry a dignified man of your class. How were you going to do this if you had a child when you weren't even married to the man?"

"But I _was_ married Mama, Marty and I got married five months after we met, Dad said I could."

Veronica looked at Victor with a hateful look on her face. "How could you Victor?!"

"Don't blame him, I asked him to let me." Anne continued. "Marty and I, we were happy and when we found out that we were going to have a baby he promised that he would take care of our child while I went to college here in _Hawaii._ He wasn't going to let _your_ dream down."

Veronica's face turned bright red with anger when Anne told her about what happened six years ago. "Well, since Marty is taking care of your child and you have graduated college you both can go on with your lives and get married to people of your own kind."

Steve just stood there, listening to Anne and her Mother finally tell each

other about what went on so many years ago.

"No Veronica," Victor spoke up. "She won't; she has done everything that you have told her to do, and if she wanted to marry Marty she had a right too. You had no right to separate them or to break your daughter's heart telling her that her baby was dead.

At that point Mrs. Gulley became so furious that she stormed out of the house slamming the door behind her.

"Forgive me Mr. McGarrett, my Mother can sometimes over-react on some things."

"Oh it's alright, I understand." Steve said finally.

"So uh Mr. McGarrett, you were talking about Marty and my daughter?"

"Yes Mr. Gulley, I came here to ask you Ms. Anne, if you will return to _Honolulu_ with me."

"What for Mr. McGarrett?"

"I was hoping that you would be willing to take over parenting your daughter."

"But isn't Marty taking care of her?"

"I'm afraid not, two years after your daughter was born Marty started doing crimes, at first it was just simple robbery no one was ever hurt. We caught him a few days ago and one of my men found Susie tied up in a closet, beaten and half starved."

Anne became so shocked by this news that she just about fell back into the chair.

Steve stood there and listened as the young lady just cried. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that Ms. Gulley."  
"I just don't understand, Marty loved kids, why would he hurt our child?"

"Because a friend of his gave Marty drugs, and those drugs caused him to hurt your daughter."

"H….has Marty hurt anyone else Mr. McGarrett?" Mr. Gulley asked.

"I'm afraid so Mr. Gulley, Danny Williams was the man that found Susie. He took her in, and a couple of days ago Marty broke out of prison and found out where Danny was keeping her and Marty almost killed Danny Williams trying to get Susie back, and now Danny's lying in a hospital bed struggling to live."

Anne looked up wiping tears away from her eyes. "You said 'Susie', is that what Marty named her?"

"Yes."

"What does she look like?"

Steve reached over and picked up a young photo of Anne and handed it to her. "Your daughter looks like you in all ways but one; she has no family to care for her, and it's not a safe life to live with a cop."

"But if she never knew about me how will I get her to trust me?"

"The same way Danny did, by being gentle and giving her time."

Anne took a deep breath then stood up and straightened her shoulders. "Alright Mr. McGarrett, I'll go back to _Honolulu_ with you."

Steve had a relieved look suddenly flush across his face. "Thank you."

Mr. Gulley looked up at the clock and saw that it read 11:00pm. "It's late, why don't you stay the night Mr. McGarrett and we can leave early in the morning?"

Steve nodded his head in agreement, then Anne walked down the hall to pack and Steve followed Victor Gulley into the kitchen for some coffee before settling down for the night.

**Chapter 19**

The next morning Steve, Anne and Mr. Gulley were at the airport waiting to board their plane.

"Mr. McGarrett, what if Susie doesn't like me?" Anne asked, her hands shaking with fear.

"You'll just have to give her time." Steve said confidently.

Anne just nodded her head then looked at the main doors, wishing, hoping that her Mother would walk through the doors, bags in hand to go with them.

"She's not coming sweetheart," Mr. Gulley said. "Once your Mother's made up her mind, nothing can change it."

"I know your right Dad; I was just hoping that this time would be different."

"Me too Anne," he sighed. "Me too."

Suddenly the boarding call for their flight rang over the speakers.

"Mr. Gulley, Anne, are you ready?" Steve quickly asked.

"Yes Mr. McGarrett, we're ready." Mr. Gulley spoke up.

Everyone got in line to board the airplane, Anne took one last look towards the main doors, even though she knew that it wouldn't do any good. Much to her surprise, there, standing at the back of the line, was her Mother waving goodbye with a smile on her face.

Anne waved back as she walked into the plane; she took her seat and realized that she had more confidence than when she first woke up.

* * *

When they landed on _Oahu_, Steve quickly got them loaded into his car and headed off to the hospital.

When they arrived Steve quickly noticed that the hospital was surrounded by H.P.D cars.

"Is everything alright Mr. McGarrett?" Anne asked.

But Steve didn't answer; he quickly parked his car and ran inside the hospital praying that everything was alright. As he got closer to Danny's room he was met by Chin. "What happened?" he asked in a frustrated tone.

"Maverick snuck into Danny's room, tried to smother him in his sleep. Noah was able to save Danny but Maverick knocked Noah out before he could arrest him." Chin answered.

"Is Danno alright?"

"He's a little shaken but alright."

Steve rounded the last corner, passed Benny and walked into Danny's room. There he saw Danny sitting up in his bed, no longer in the oxygen tent, and Kenneth standing next to the door.

"Steve!" Danny said surprisingly.

"Hello Danno, how are you doing?"

"Other than almost getting killed, I'm alright, still a little sore and my arm's still broken."

Steve gave a slight smile then sat on the edge of the bed. "Danno, what happened, how did Maverick get in here without anyone recognizing him?"

"I don't know Steve, from what Noah told me Maverick disguised himself as a doctor and said that he was supposed to check on me."

"Was Noah in the room with you?"  
"No, nobody was, except Susie, she woke up and saw Johnny trying to kill me. She screamed and that's what made Noah come in."

"Where was Joshua?" Steve asked as he glanced back at Kenneth.

"He wasn't here." Kenneth answered. "A nurse came and told him that he had a phone call, not two minutes later Susie screamed and Noah saved Danny."

"Where's Joshua now?"

"He's at the Palace giving his statement. He feels really bad for letting this happen sir, but after receiving that phone call he feel all to pieces, something got upset."

"He's going to feel a lot worse when I'm through with him. Did he say what the call was about?"

"No sir, he wouldn't tell us who _or_ what it was about."

Steve started to get steamed up; Danny quickly put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Take it easy Steve, maybe someone threatened Joshua that if he didn't stay out of the room, something might happen to him or his family."

"You may be right Danno." Steve sighed.

Suddenly Benny walked. "Steve? There's a Mr. and Ms. Gulley out here to see you."

"Oh, umm…..send them in."

Danny looked at Steve confused. "Steve? Who is Mr. And Ms. Gulley?"

Steve didn't answer, he just stood up and watched as Victor and Anne walked through the door.

"Mr. McGarrett?" Anne said quietly.

"Come on in."

Anne became scared when she saw Danny lying on the hospital bed. Victor gently took her hand and walked her over to the bedside.

"Mr. Gulley, Ms. Gulley, this is Dan Williams. Dan Williams, this is Mr. and Ms. Gulley…Susie's family."

"Mr. Gulley, Ms. Gulley." Danny said with a smile on his face.

"Please, call me Anne; I'm so sorry for what Marty did to you Mr. Williams."

"It's alright, no need to apologize; and please, call me Danny."

"So uh…..where's Susie?" Victor asked trying to break the ice.

"A couple of my friends took her out for the day."

Anne quietly sighed with relief.

"Well Mr. McGarrett, we'll leave alone." Victor said very nervously.

As he and Anne headed for the door Danny quickly spoke up.

"Anne?"

"Yes Danny?"

"I'd like to talk to you later if that would be okay."

"Of course, I would like that." Anne whispered then her and her Father left the room quietly shutting the door behind them.

"Is she alright Steve?" Danny asked.

"No, no she's not Danno, until last night she didn't know that Susie was alive, Anne thought that Susie was a stillborn baby. And now she's afraid that Susie won't accept her as a Mother."

Danny thought about that for a minute and remembered Susie telling him about how Marshelle told her that her Mother never wanted her.

"We might have a two-way problem Steve. Susie might _not_ accept Anne as her Mother because she's been told all her life that Anne never wanted her. How do you think she'll take hearing that Anne wants to be her Mom again?"

"I don't know Danno." Steve sighed. "I guess that we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Where did Shawn and Maggy take Susie today?"

"The _Honolulu Zoo_, tomorrow their going Horseback riding out at the _Maunawili Farm_."

"I thought that you were going to take her." Steve said smiling.

"I was, but our reservations are for tomorrow and the doctor said that it'll be a least two more days before I can get out of here. After that I'm suppose to take a vacation until my arm heals."

Steve and Danny both started to chuckle when Benny quickly opened the door scared-like.

"Steve? Kono called, someone just took a shot at Joshua."

Steve didn't answer; he just jumped up, ran out of the hospital, got in his car and raced off to the Palace.

* * *

When he arrived, Steve jumped out oh his car and ran into the Palace to where the police officers were keeping an eye on Joshua.

"Steve!" Kono called out.

"Kono, what happened?" Steve asked as they headed for his office.

"Joshua was just giving his statement when three shots came through the window."

"Is Joshua alright?"

"Just a little shook up, after the first shot he hit the deck but he's okay."

"Did you get a good look at the shooter?" Steve was hoping that someone did might have seen him; if they did then they might be able to figure out who called Joshua the night before.

"Yeah, it was Rya O'Mallie."

Steve stopped dead in his tracks and turned to see Kono standing like a scared statue. "Rya O'Mallie, I thought that he was in jail?"

"Someone paid his bail yesterday."

Steve thought about this for a second before continuing towards his office. "Where is Rya now?"

"He's in a holding cell. After he fired his rifle he gave himself up."

Steve nodded his head then quickly walked into the main office.

"Steve," Jenny spoke up, "the Governor called; he wants an update."

"Tell him everything is okay and I'll contact him later."

And with that Steve walked into his office followed by Kono shutting the door behind him.

* * *

As the day started to fade away, Anne headed back to the hospital to talk to Danny. She reached Danny's room and then suddenly froze; she didn't know whether to go in or not.

Noah noticed that Anne was just standing there. "Can I help you ma'am?"

"What?" Anne said startled.

"I asked if I could help you." Noah repeated.

"Oh, umm….y..yes, I would like to umm… talk to Mr. Williams please?"

Noah smiled then cracked the door opened and whispered something. After hearing a second whisper coming from inside the room Noah straightened up then said. "Go right on in ma'am."

Anne took a deep breath then walked into the room and saw Danny reading something out of a folder.

"Danny?" she said quietly.

"Come on in Anne." He answered as he put the folder away.

Anne walked over to his bedside and smiled. "Good reading?" she asked indicating the folder on the table.

Danny looked at it and chuckled. "Yeah, you could call it that, I guess."

"Everything okay?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out where one of street stoolies is hiding."

"Oh." Anne felt a little awkward standing there she looked back at the officer standing next to the door just as Danny took a deep breath.

"Anne, the reason that I asked you here was because….."

"You want to know why I was never there for Susie." She interrupted. "And I want to tell you why."

Danny watched Anne sit on the edge of the bed and the officer leave the room.

"The reason why I wasn't a part of Susie's life is because several years ago after I met Marty I thought that it was safe to take him home to Mother; she practically kicked him out of the house and forbid me to ever see him again. Little did she know was that we had dated for a couple years and had gotten married with my Father's permission, because he knew what a great guy Marty was. Well nine months later Susie came along, but through all the hustle and bustle Mom told Marty that I didn't want our child any more and sent him packing with Susie. But she told me that Susie was stillborn, so while I was recovering Marty brought Susie here to _Honolulu_."

"But didn't you find it weird that Marty never contacted you?"

"Yes, but when I tried calling him, the operator said that there was no one living at that address anymore and when I went looking for him I never could find him. And I hadn't heard anything of him till last night."

"So your Mother was behind everything?"

"Except for Marty taking drugs and beating our daughter, yes she was behind it."

Suddenly Anne noticed that the sky was dark. "Oh my, it's getting late. I promised Dad that I'd call Mom when I get back to the hotel."

"That's alright; Susie will be coming back soon."

Anne quickly stood up and headed for the door. "I never did like the idea of not being able to raise my daughter, Danny." Anne said staring at the door.

Danny just kept quiet when she turned to look at him.

"But I am glad to know that I might have a second chance at it."

And with that Anne left the room, leaving Danny to really think about what she had said.

**Chapter 20**

The next morning Kono walked into Steve's office and found Steve sleeping on the couch.

"Steve?" he said as he raised the window blinders and opened the balcony doors to let the morning breeze in; but Steve didn't stir.

"Hey Boss….Boss?" Kono repeated, shaking Steve's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Steve quickly opened his eyes, took a deep breath and sat up. "Kono, what time is it?"

"About 8:30, have you been here all night?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to figure out where Johnny Maverick might strike next."

"Have you come up with anything?"

"Nothing yet; I was thinking about the day when he called."

"He said that if we don't stop looking for him, Danny and Susie would never see another sunrise." Kono spoke up; trying to figure out what Steve was talking about. "What are you thinking Boss?"

Steve stood up, walked over to the balcony and felt the light breeze coming through. "Johnny has already made an attempt on Danno's life, my guess is that he'll go after Susie next; question is when. He's already been in the hospital, and he knows that Noah saw him, so more than likely he won't go back there."

Kono and Steve thought about this for what seemed like forever. After about five minutes Chin walked in to see Kono sitting down with his hand holding up his head, and Steve leaning against the wall, looking out the balcony doors.

"Everything alright Boss?" he asked.

"Yeah Chin, what do you got?"

"I talked to Rya O'Mallie last night, he said that Johnny paid his bail, picked him up and told him that he was to make the phone call to Joshua."

"What did he say?" Steve asked without looking away.

"He told Joshua that if he didn't stay away from Danny's room for five minutes then his family would be killed. Then he called Joshua's wife, and said that if she, her mother-in-law, or three kids told the police then Joshua would die, so it was a two-way problem."

"Why did Rya try to kill Joshua?"

"Johnny told Rya that Joshua snitched on him and that the only way to keep his name clean was to kill Joshua."

"So he took three shots at him then gave himself up when he thought Joshua was dead. Did he say where Johnny is?" Steve started sounding angrier.

"He said that Johnny would be keeping an eye on Susie, waiting for the right moment to get rid of her."

"The question is when will be the right moment?" Kono said.

The next thing they heard was Steve's phone ringing. Steve turned from the window and very tired like answered the phone.

"McGarrett…. Yes Danno? When? Where's Susie now? Alright Danno, thanks."

Chin waited until Steve hung up the phone before asking, "What'd Danny want Steve?"

"Maverick just called Danno, warning him that if we don't back off, Susie will be dead before sunset."

Chin and Kono went dead silent; for a few minutes there were no sounds, everything was as quiet as a tomb. The only sounds that were made was the wind blowing through trees and cars driving and honking on the near by road.

"How is he going to find her Steve?" Kono finally spoke up.

"I don't know Kono; like I said, he probably won't go back to the hospital."

"He said that he would be keeping an eye on Susie." Chin said. "What if he's been following the McGuire's around?"

Steve's eyes suddenly lit up. "That's it! How else would he know that we had Susie? He's been following all of us."

"So wherever Susie is, Maverick can't be far." Kono said.

"The question is where?" Chin said. "Knowing where she is, is like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Steve suddenly took the word "haystack" into thought and began pacing while snapping his fingers.

"Your on the right track Chin." He said.

Chin and Kono were both confused.

"What do you mean Boss?"

"I mean that, Maverick knows that we won't stop searching for him so he plans on killing Susie, Shawn, and Maggy out where no one can hear them or find them."

"If he did, he'd probably do it in some of the jungle type areas." Kono said.

"Exactly Kono, and what's the easiest way to get to those areas?"

Kono was suddenly stumped by the question when Chin suddenly came up with the answer.

"Horses… horses can get around just about anywhere the easiest."

Steve turned to face Chin. "Right Chin and Danny told me yesterday that the McGuire's were taking Susie horseback riding today at _Maunawili Farms that_ must be where he plans on killing them."

Steve looked between the two men and all three knew that if they didn't move fast, three people would lose their lives.

* * *

Shawn was driving his car down the road; sitting next him was Maggy and Susie in the back seat.

"Hey Susie, are you excited about going horseback riding?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I wish that Danny could have come with us."

Maggy shrugged her shoulder and flashed Shawn a concerned look. "Well you know Susie." She said. "Danny will be getting out of the hospital soon and he's going to have a lot of free time on his hands. So you and he will do a lot of stuff together."

Susie looked up with a curious look on her face. "Like what?"

"Oh well, he's going to take you boating, and when he's able he'll take you horseback riding." Maggy said in a perky voice.

"And," Shawn spoke up. "He even talked about taking camping on another island, and down to the beach to learn how to swim."

Susie looked out her window with a real big smile on her face, at that moment she really started to think that her life might be great after all.

Little did anyone know was that, Johnny Maverick wasn't to far away. In fact, he was right behind them, driving his car with an evil smirk on his face.

After a few minutes of driving Shawn pulled his car into the _Maunawili Farms_ drive.

"Alright, we're here." He said joyfully. "Everybody out."

Maggy helped Susie out of the car while Shawn went to talk to the stable owner.

"Are you scared of horses Maggy?" Susie asked.

"Nah, I've been riding since I was your age, it's easy."

Shawn walked back over to them with a smile on his face. "Great news, the owner says that since business is slow today he'll give us another horse to ride, no charge."

"That's great sweetie." Maggy said. "Do we get to pick our own horse?"

"Yep, the guy said to go right ahead, I'll be in soon, I have to change my shoes."

"Alright, we'll get your horse ready for you."

"Thanks sweets."

Susie watched as Shawn gave Maggy a little kiss on her cheek and Maggy do the same.

"Come on Susie, let's go find our horse." Maggy said finally.

"Okay." She answered, and Shawn watched as the two of them went into the stable.

Johnny carefully and quietly pulled his car in behind Shawn's, stuffed a pistol in the back of his pants and carefully got out of the car.

Shawn looked up just as he tied his last shoe, and watched the young man approach him in the shadows.

"Can I help you buddy?" Shawn asked.

But something didn't feel right, Shawn watched as the man steadily approached him, his pace not changing.

After walking in the shadows for a few seconds a small spot of sunlight suddenly hit Johnny's face and immediately Shawn recognized him as Johnny Maverick.

Shawn didn't think twice when he ran towards the stable to warn the girls, and Johnny wasn't too far behind.

* * *

When Shawn ran into the stable he saw Maggy and Susie already sitting on their horse.

"Shawn what's wrong?" Maggy asked.

"Get riding, Johnny Maverick is coming for Susie!"

Maggy didn't understand what Shawn was talking about until she spotted Maverick running in. Maggy kicked her horse and she and Susie raced off to get help while Shawn tried to hold Johnny back.

But that didn't last long.

Johnny was a much stronger fighter than Shawn; it didn't take long for Johnny to knock Shawn out.

After a minute of catching his breath, Johnny grabbed the other horse and rode off after the girls.

* * *

Maggy's horse ran as fast as it could, Maggy was holding the reigns in one hand and Susie in the other.

"Where are we going Maggy?"

"The hospital, there we can get some help."

Maggy raced her horse up and down hills, across roads, and around a dangerous neighborhood before finally reaching the hospital.

"Now Susie," Maggy said. "I'm going to drop you off at the front door, I want you to run as fast as you can and get to Danny."

"But, what about you?" Susie asked.

"I'll keep riding, hopefully he'll think that you're still with me and keep on following."

"Okay."

Maggy stopped just quick enough to let Susie off before racing away.

* * *

Susie didn't waste anytime running into the hospital, she ran as fast as she could when she suddenly spotted the guard outside Danny's door.

"Hey whoa, whoa there Susie," Benny said smiling. "What's wrong?"

"Maggy sent me…. Johnny's after us….he hurt Shawn….. I gotta tell Danny."

Susie huffed.

"Alright Susie, take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

But before she could, a blast came from the hallway, a closet door blew off, and smoke poured out into the corridors.

Kenneth came rushing out, gun at the ready.

"Susie, go inside." Benny said. "Come on Kenneth."

* * *

Susie quickly ran inside the room and saw Danny trying to get up.

"Danny!"

"Susie, what happened?"

"Johnny found us, beat up Shawn, and chased us here. Maggy rode off trying to get him to follow her, but I don't think it worked. There was a noise in the hallway."

Danny knew from experience that that meant there wasn't much time before Johnny came into his room.

"Susie listen there isn't much time; I need you to hide in the closet."

Susie's eyes suddenly filled with fear. "Why Danny, did I do something bad?"

"No, it's just the safest place to be right now, okay?"

Susie wiped her tears away then nodded her head, and went and hid in the closet.

Danny quickly covered himself up like he was asleep, not five seconds later the door swung open and Johnny walked in with his evil smirk still on his face. He quietly chuckled as he approached Danny's beside.

"Your friends thought that they could stop me and trick me," he laughed. "But they were wrong. And I might not ever get to Susie, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of getting rid of you."

He pulled out his gun and got ready to shoot when Danny suddenly grabbed the gun, quickly sat up, and flipped Johnny over the bed and watched as he hit the floor.

Then he jumped out of bed. "You'll never hurt anyone again Johnny."

Danny waited for a second when Johnny quickly swung his leg hitting Danny's feet making him fall.

Then Johnny shuffled trying to knock Danny out, but Danny swung his arm and it connected with Johnny's jaw knocking him down, Danny then got half-way on top of Johnny wrapping his arm around Johnny's neck choking him.

* * *

Steve ran into the hospital and raced down the hall to see what happened. When he got closer to Danny's room he immediately noticed that Benny wasn't guarding the door.

Chin and Kono caught up with Steve as he approached the room, they were getting ready to go in the room when they heard grunting and coughing on the other side of the door.

Chin looked at Kono, his face white with fear.

Steve quickly grabbed his gun and the others did the same, then Steve quietly counted to three and the three men rushed into the room, guns at the ready.

But what they saw left them speechless; Danny was holding Johnny's arm behind his back with one arm while choking him with his broken arm.

"Danno, what happened?" Steve asked.

Danny looked up and chuckled. "Get him out of here and I'll tell you."

Kono and Chin took Johnny from Danny's grip and took him out just as Steve was helping Danny back to his bed.

"Alright Danno, what happened."

"Oh, Johnny planted a bomb in the hall, and he chased Maggy and Susie here and he beat up Shawn and left him at the stable."

"Where's Maggy and Susie now?" Steve asked.

Suddenly the closet door creaked open and Susie crawled out.

"Is it safe Danny?" she whispered.

Danny and Steve chuckled, "Yes Susie, it's alright."

Susie smiled then jumped onto the bed and hugged Danny tight. "I thought that Johnny was going to hurt you."

Danny sighed. "Me too Susie," he whispered. "Me too."

Suddenly the door swung open and Maggy walked in.

"Maggy!" Danny said surprisingly. Susie quickly turned her head and smiled big.

"Hey Danny, hey Susie, thank goodness your alright."

"Where's Shawn?" Danny asked.

"He's on his way in, the stable owner called for help after we left."

Danny nodded his head then looked at Steve who was just standing there.

"What are you thinking about Steve?"

"I was thinking about how dull it's going to be around the Palace without you."

Danny smiled then Maggy and Susie busted out laughing and Steve just chuckled.

**Chapter 21**

About a week later Steve pulled his car into the beaches parking lot, and he, Anne, Chin, and Kono climbed out; each wearing everyday relaxing clothes.

Steve immediately spotted Danny, Shawn, Maggy, and Susie playing tag near the water.

As they walked closer to the group Anne quickly grabbed Steve's arm.

"Mr. McGarrett, I don't know if this is such a good idea. I mean, what if she doesn't want me as her mom?"

"Danny told me that every night Susie has prayed that her mother would come to take care of her. But like I said before, don't rush her, give her a chance to get use to the idea."

Anne nodded her head then she spotted Susie running towards them with Danny chasing her.

"Steve! Chin! Kono!" she called out.

Steve waved his arm and noticed that Danny started slowly trotted along behind her. "What's the matter Danno, to much time off?" he said.

"Just a little," Danny huffed out of breath. "But Doc said that I can return to full duty tomorrow."

"That's great Danny." Chin said smiling.

Susie was kind of sad about this news, but she knew that Danny would try to spend as much time as he could with her. Then she noticed the lady standing next to Steve, and she pulled on Danny's arm.

"What is it Susie?" he asked looking down.

"Who's the lady?" she whispered.

"Oh, I guess that you haven't met yet, umm, Susie Marshelle Anne Gulley, Anne this is Susie."

Anne took a deep breath. "How do you do Susie?"

"I'm okay…I think." Susie said confusingly.

Danny noticed how uncomfortable Anne was then he got an idea.

"Hey Susie why don't you go introduce Anne to Shawn and Maggy, and show her your sandcastle?"

Susie smiled. "Okay Danny." She said. Then she took Anne hand and the two of them raced off towards the water.

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "When do you plan on telling her Danno?"

"I don't know Steve. These past couple weeks being, with Susie has ….really made me think about how precious life is." Danny watched as Susie played with others in the water, splashing each other. "I guess I'll tell her when we're both ready."

"_Hey Danny, come on!"_ Susie yelled.

The four men smiled at each other, and as they walked on towards their friends they knew that each of them played an important roll in this case; and for as long as they could, they would remember the case about a little girl named Susie…

And the man who was her Guardian Angel without wings.

**THE END.**


End file.
